Photo By Amanda Dick | U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy Johansen, 445th Force Support Squadron commander,...... read more read more
Lt. Col. Timothy Johansen, 445th Force Support Squadron commander, presented Master Sgt. Amanda Szymanski, 445th FSS personnel technician, with the Air and Space Commendation Medal during their squadron stand down Aug. 3 during the monthly unit training assembly.
According to Szymanski, her family was on a camping trip at the end of July with friends. While her children were out on the lake July 26, she and a friend were coming back from picking up fishing bait when they saw a woman lying in the street.
“As we came up the hill, we noticed a lady on the ground,” Szymanski said. “She was struggling to get up, and she was trying to get out from under her bike. My friend looks over at me, and she’s like, ‘Should we stop?’”
They did stop, and Szymanski rushed over while her friend drove off to get help. She immediately started assessing the woman before moving her and her things off to the side of the road, noticing road rash, a bump on her eye and a wound on her chin.
She continued to assess, directing a retired Soldier and his wife who stopped to help provide care.
“He starts pulling first aid stuff out of his bag, and we start bandaging her up, putting Band-Aids where she’s got a lot of blood coming out over her road rash,” Szymanski explained.
Shortly after that, park employees, including a registered nurse, arrived with another first aid kit and ice, as well as a golf cart to transport the woman back to her campsite where she was taken to the ER by a friend.
Szymanski’s decisive actions were bolstered by her training in the military – the Tactical Combat Casualty Care course to be exact.
TCCC, formerly Self Aid and Buddy Care, provides training to military members on how to provide life-saving techniques and strategies for trauma care on the battlefield.
“Self-aid and buddy care is always the first thing that kicks in,” she said. “You see somebody hurt; you start assessing things, playing those trainings back in your head and going through everything like, ‘Okay. I need to get her out of the roadway so that she doesn’t become even more of a casualty, and I don’t get hurt myself.’”
Szymanski is retiring in November, and while she’s ending her Air Force career on a high note, it’s not something she wanted to make a big deal over. Her husband felt differently and emailed the FSS about what she did why he believed she should be recognized for her efforts.
“It was terribly hot, and who knows how long that lady would have laid out there in the middle of the road if somebody didn’t come along,” said Nicholas Szymanski, Amanda’s husband and an Air Force Institute of Technology senior network administrator. “If she had said, ‘No, she’ll be alright.’ How many more people would have done the same thing?”
In his email to FSS leadership, that was a key focus for Nicholas, who also served in the military.
“I truly believe Amanda’s quick action and decisiveness saved the lady from possible further injury and could have possibly been lifesaving,” he said in the email. “This is a testament to her character, service before self, leadership and years of Air Force training and service ... I believe she deserves to be recognized for her actions.”
FSS leadership agreed.
“It is Master Sergeant Szymanski’s nature to care for people, so when she saw the woman having a medical emergency, Amanda’s training and servant’s heart kicked in to care for the woman,” Johansen said. “Master Sergeant Szymanski’s Air and Space Commendation Medal is in direct appreciation of answering the call to serve a person in need. We always want to recognize Airmen who go above and beyond. Amanda is one of many amazing Airmen I have the privilege of serving with.”
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2025 15:18 |
| Story ID: | 545875 |
| Location: | WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 515 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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