Conn. Guardsmen recognized overseas

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jefferson S. Heiland
  • 103rd Airlift Wing, Public Affairs
BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, East Granby, Conn. --  A firefighter with the 103rd Civil Engineer Squadron was recently recognized as the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing's Tuskegee Airman of the Week, Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

On duty while deployed, Staff Sgt. Joseph D. Startup lead his crash crew in preventing further damage to a C-130 with active hung chaffs and flares and, with his crew, was the first arriving crash truck to a hydrazine leak and activation during an event involving an F-16. Startup lead the crew with a text-book response and performance.

Off duty, he volunteered 10 hours working at the 332nd Contingency Aeromedical Staging facility, aiding in administering IV's and emergency care for ER patients. Startup also helped to organize and box up more than 300 pounds of overstocked hygiene products and medical supplies and prepare the boxes for shipment to bases in Afghanistan that were running low. In all, he has over logged more than 35 hours of volunteer time at the CASF and Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq.

Airmen between the ranks of Airman and Staff Sgt. Are selected for the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Tuskegee Airman of the Week base on accomplishments while on and off duty.

In another part of the world, Senior Airman Corinna Kalisz, a member with the 103rd Air and Space Operations Group, received the Combined Air Headquarters Monthly Award for October 2010,

At her deployed location at the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Southwest Asia, Kalisz is responsible for conducting battle damage assessment in two theaters of war, assessing hundreds of targets to establish the effectiveness of CENTCOM operations. She was chosen to brief the CAOC Strategy Division and was lauded as "best brief" by Chief of ISR Division. She also qualified four NCOs in cross discipline AFSCs and ensured full mission capability during 50 percent personnel change-over of her section in half the usual time.

Kalisz is one of 15 Base Victim Advocates coordinating the domestic violence walk at her deployed location, providing awareness and support to fellow Airmen.