Bronze Stars awarded at Nellis

Dick Benoit

Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

A diverse group of Nellis airmen returning from deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom have been honored with Bronze Stars for their meritorious service to the country.

The first to be given the medal upon their return were Lt. Col. Lee dePalo and Maj. Lee Harvis.

"The two helicopter pilots, with the 66th Rescue Squadron, were awarded the medal for service in the Afghan theater of operations," Nellis spokeswoman Linda Johnsrud said.

A primary detachment commander, Harvis was tested immediately upon his arrival: A Pakistani Mirage jet pilot was downed. He launched two HH 60G helicopters in what turned out to be an eight-hour search requiring night vision goggles. The next night a Navy F-18 Hornet jet lost its canopy and Harvis' unit responded again with two HH 60s to escort and support the aircraft to a safe emergency landing.

DePalo took command in late January with orders to split operations of the rescue detachment between two different locations, and Harvis was dispatched to Kandahar as detachment commander while dePalo assumed responsibility for overseeing four separate bare base locations spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan in support of the war.

Master Sgt. David Whitaker, a fuels manager for the 99th Supply Squadron, was singled out for accomplishments in his specialty, as well as for his leadership as command chief of 37 fuels specialists supporting aircraft flying combat and humanitarian missions.

According to officials of the 319th Air Expeditionary Group, Whitaker's crews transformed a small jet refueling point into a 1.5-million-gallon terminal in less than a month and eventually dispensed over 32 million gallons of fuel without serious incident.

Capt. Katerina Brinson, a Predator pilot and flight safety officer for the 15th Reconnaissance Squadron located at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, was liaison officer between two deployed Predator locations in Saudi Arabia. She coordinated the employment of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) weapons system, working closely with the targeting specialists to identify and take out high value enemy targets.

Brinson's team was lauded by the commander of the U.S. Central Command Air Forces Component.

Horizon graduate commended

Army Spec. Carlos U. Villegas, South Horizon High School class of 1999, has been decorated with the Army Commendation Medal.

The medal is awarded to individuals who have distinguished themselves by acts of heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service.

Villegas, the son of Gloria and Christobal Villegas of Las Vegas, earned the award while serving as cannon crew member assigned to the 7th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

In brief

Three Nevadans have recently departed on a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf.

The three are among more than 10,000 Pacific Fleet sailors and Marines aboard the ships of the Lincoln Carrier Battle Group and USS Belleau Wood Amphibious Ready Group.

McDaniels, son of Kimberly McDaniels and Mounir Elkouz of Las Vegas, received instruction on the gathering and analyzing of intelligence information in preparation for entrance into cryptologic technician technical branch training.