Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.
Maj. Doug Putney left his classroom with the 6th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base for a seat in a helicopter in order to help lead the air assault on Iraq in March and April.
Putney, who was awarded a Bronze Star on Monday for meritorious service during Operation Iraqi Freedom, helped coordinate air attacks with ground forces from the back seat of a mobile command post inside an HH-60 helicopter while in Iraq.
"There were five of us in the back of that helicopter yelling at each other, and it could get a little fast and furious," Putney said Monday after receiving his Bronze Star at Nellis. "We'd use the radios, but if they gave out we'd resort to yelling."
As an air liaison officer for the Army's 101st Airborne Division, Putney was charged with calling in and managing Air Force resources in support of Army troops advancing on the ground.
Putney, who serves as the assistant director of operations for the 6th Combat Training Squadron, helped to guide air support for the 101st as it liberated and cleared south Baghdad, Mosul and Haditha and covered over 1,200 miles.
"We had to make sure that we were having the effects we wanted on targets while avoiding collateral damage and our own ground forces," Putney said. "It's nice to be recognized, but there are a lot of people who are still over there that have contributed just as much.
"I'm just proud that all my guys made it back alive."
Putney also helped in routing aircraft to provide security for the convoys of American troops and supplies that often stretched miles into the Iraqi desert.
Maj. Gen. Steve Wood, commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis, said that the Bronze Star was a special honor for Putney because it was recognition of the job he did assisting a sister service, in this case the Army.
"I was happy to get the air power out to where it was needed because I knew it was going to be on target," Wood said. "Sometimes we couldn't push the planes out fast enough, but I knew that air liaison officers were putting all our resources to the best use."
Putney, who was deployed as the air liaison officer for the 101st from March 19 to April 26, thanked his fiancee for her support as he accepted the Bronze Star.
"While I was in Iraq I went to bed with a picture of her on my pillow every night," said Putney, who plans to marry his fiancee on Oct. 12.
A Bronze Star is the 10th-highest commendation that an airman can receive, ranking higher than a Purple Heart or an Air Force commendation medal.
The medal was established in 1944. It can be awarded to any person who distinguishes himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against an armed enemy, or while engaged in military operations involving conflict in which the U.S. is not a belligerent party.
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