Photo By Mark Olsen | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Joseph C. Kunkle, 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air...... read more read more
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U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Joseph C. Kunkle, a member of the 177th Fighter Wing Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, became the first New Jersey Air Guardsman to receive a Bronze Star for serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Kunkle received the medal in a ceremony at the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, at the Atlantic City Air National Guard Base, New Jersey, Dec. 6, 2004.
The award was for serving as the noncommissioned officer of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, from July 20 to Nov. 15, 2003.
The award was specifically for the events on Sept. 12, when he, and EOD team member, Staff Sgt. Justin Krowicki, along with their Army security team literally had the day of their lives.
The award certificate, while summarizing his achievements, does little justice to what actually happened that day. Here is a more detailed account of the five incidents that occurred on that Friday in Baghdad.
It started at eight in the morning…
The 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron EOD team received a call from the Army requesting support for a convoy attacked in a local marketplace about six miles away.
An improvised explosive device had detonated, and a rocket-propelled grenade took out a Humvee with munitions inside, which had detonated and spread ordnance around the area.
“We arrived at the scene, and it was chaotic,” said Kunkle. “Civilians and military personnel were everywhere; the burned-out Humvee was in the middle of the road.”
Kunkle and Krowicki searched for other IEDs, eliminated hazards from burning unexploded ordnance, and conducted a post-blast investigation to help determine the size and composition of the weapons used.
Those investigations on the IEDs provided coalition senior leadership and intelligence agencies valuable information about the tactics, techniques, and procedures used by terrorists.
Approximately two hours later.
Army engineers directed the team to a water treatment facility about four miles away that had come under mortar attack. Six rounds hit the facility, but two didn’t detonate. Using remote equipment, they were able to dislodge the shells and safe them.
At approximately 1:45, the EOD team received a report of multiple IEDs on a major U.S. convoy route about 15 miles away.
“We arrived and saw two large burlap feed bags and one metal can along the side of the road,” said Kunkle. “As we drove our armored Humvee through an apartment complex, people began throwing rocks at our Humvee.”
When they arrived, the rocks gave way to sporadic automatic gunfire from the apartments.
The two burlap bags each contained about 50 pounds of explosives, and the large metal can contained about 25 pounds of explosives. The metal can contained a remote-control device connected to a wire running off into the distance.
“Krowicki performed long-range recons and watched my back,” said Kunkle. “My Army security escort and I traced the wire to a tunnel; no one was inside, and the Army team secured the site.”
After rendering the metal container safe; Kunkle found a buried wire running from the can to the two burlap bags. He followed the wire to the first burlap bag, cut its detonators, and performed a remote pull on the entire bag. Then Kunkle moved to the second bag, where he found another wire leading to another tunnel. The team repeated what they did the first time and the secured tunnel.
“When I returned to the second bag, the gunfire increased, coming in from both the front and rear with bullets hitting at our feet,” said Kunkle.
The team dove into a ditch. When they tried to climb the sides to return fire, they came under more gunfire.
The Army security team radioed for help; U.S. Army tanks, assisted by coalition soldiers, responded allowing them to finish their work on the IEDs.
The setup was capable of taking out an entire convoy as it drove by.
It was now four in the afternoon.
The team received a call from an Army patrol unit about two “rocks” with protruding wires located in the median of another major convoy route approximately three miles away. They found what looked like large pieces of curb with wires protruding from them.
“The “curbs” were large projectiles about 120 mm in size,” said Kunkle. “I broke off a piece of the “curb” in my hand; it was plaster covered with dirt and small rocks to make it look like a piece of curb.”
Krowicki safed both IEDs.
Approximately four and half hours later on their way back to the base, they received a call that two IEDs had been discovered in a marketplace six miles away.
“We arrived and found wires in the dirt on the curb,” said Kunkle. “I followed the wires to a partially buried mortar shell. I pushed away some dirt and found a remote-control device attached to the shell.”
Kunkle rendered the devices safe, then followed the wire and found more buried explosives. According to Kunkle, there was something about the way the explosives were sitting that seemed wrong, so he dug a deeper and found another mortar shell buried under it.
“I was about to safe the device when we started taking gunfire from across the street,” said Kunkle. “While lying flat in the middle of the road for cover, I decided to blow the device in place.”
While the Army security team went after the shooter, he placed the charge and ran for cover.
“I didn’t want to get shot,” said Kunkle.
It was close to midnight when they got back to base.
Just as they the intersection leading to the base, an IED exploded.
“The blast overpressure pushed us through the gate,” said Kunkle.
Their day was over. Kunkle and Krowicki had rendered safe seven IEDs designed to take out U.S. convoys and personnel traveling in Baghdad.
“It was a good day for us,” said Kunkle.
| Date Taken: | 12.06.2004 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2024 11:14 |
| Story ID: | 484440 |
| Location: | ATLANTIC CITY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 78 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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