Lackland Air Force Base, Texas –
Before a humble crowd of civilians and Airmen, the 37th Training Wing command chief master sergeant was awarded a Bronze Star Medal in a brief ceremony Aug. 18.
Chief Master Sgt. Dwayne Hopkins stood at attention as Brig. Gen. Darrell Jones, 37th Training Wing commander, presented the award.
"The Bronze Star is a combat only decoration and not an easy award to earn," said General Jones before pinning the 1 1/2-inch medal to the chief's shirt pocket. "I've only pinned one other Bronze Star in my career."
The chief was cited for meritorious service while serving as the command chief master sergeant of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing in Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, from June 2005 to June 2006.
"I am humbled, but the Airmen in the 379th AEW deserve this decoration more than I do," the command chief said. "This was not a single effort, but more of a team effort - Warrior Airmen working together as one, fighting the war on terrorism."
According to the citation, Chief Hopkins was involved in the planning and dispatch of more than 25,000 combat sorties in support of military operations, such as Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
"This would not have been possible without all the hard work and dedication of the Airmen that served in the 379th AEW. We worked many hours in harsh conditions putting bombs on target in Iraq and Afghanistan," the chief said.
He was also closely involved in transitioning nearly 36,000 combat troops into 138 semi-permanent billeting facilities during four Air Force rotation cycles.
As further example of his commitment to Airmen, "Chief Hopkins personally briefed every combat Airman deployed to his wing, over 22,000 total, looking each in the eye and ensuring they understood combat operations, standards of conduct, their individual importance to the wing's combat mission," reads a segment of the citation.
The Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement of service, no involving aerial flight, in connection with operations against an opposing armed force.
This is Chief Hopkins' second Bronze Star Medal.
The Bronze Star Medal was authorized in 1944, retroactive to Dec. 7, 1941, in response to Gen. George C. Marshall's 1944 memorandum to President Franklin Roosevelt. The correspondence described the adverse reaction ground troops had to aerial crews receiving the Air Medal, while they had no similar award.