Connecticut Guardsman awarded Bronze Star

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Teddy Andrews
  • 103rd Airlift Wing, Public Affairs
BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE - East Granby, Conn. --  The Bronze Star, the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces, is given for heroic or meritorious achievement or service. For most of us, receiving such a prestigious award would merit bragging rights and serve as the ultimate pinnacle of our career. For Senior Master Sgt. Doug Margelony of the 103rd Civil Engineer Squadron, it may seem like just another notch in the veteran's belt.

Senior Master Sgt. Douglas Margelony was awarded the Bronze Star for his accomplishments while assigned to the 577th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Base Engineer Emergency Force, known as Prime BEEF, Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. In the six months that Margelony was assigned to the unit, he served as the Operations Superintendent for Regional Command North. In that time he oversaw more than $40 million in construction in remote regions throughout northern Afghanistan. Structures included large-area maintenance shelters, latrine/shower/shave units, and electrical grids which ran off of 50-60 hertz generators. Margelony accomplished this feat in his short time in Afghanistan with a crew of 48 people orchestrating the labor, supplies, communications, and logistics for the unit.

Despite the significance of the Bronze Star, Margelony remains humble, admitting that, "I'm not a big award guy...I think a record speaks for itself."

"The significance didn't hit me until Saturday morning (May 4). Then it was like, 'Wow!' It was pretty huge," said Margelony.

Sergeant Margelony considers this award as one of the biggest highlights of his career. Other highlights include receiving a Presidential Unit Citation presented by President George H. W. Bush to Margelony's Air Borne unit in Honduras. An experience he calls, "...pretty skippy." Margelony has also been a First Sergeant, an Army Drill Instructor, and has done a tour of duty at the Pentagon.

"Without the Airmen, the mission would have been absolutely zero," said Margelony reflecting on receiving the Bronze Star. "They're the reason why I'm in this position today--as always, it's not about me, it's about them. And that's the way it should be."