HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. -- Tech. Sgt. Timothy Haffner, 482nd Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal journeyman, was awarded a Bronze Star for heroism upon completion of his six-month deployment to Iraq on June 25.
Sergeant Haffner led a team of three EOD technicians who embedded with U.S. Army units in the midst of increased operations in Iraq from January through June 2007. The Airmen diffused improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance from roadways, cleared weapon caches and performed post-blast analysis missions.
"It was like coming home," said Sergeant Haffner, who previously served in the Army and Army National Guard for 11 years before joining the Air Force Reserve six years ago.
And his experience served him well while executing over 140 combat missions and spending over 3,000 hours "outside the wire." Each mission that Sergeant Haffner's team accomplished had life-saving consequences for U.S., Coalition and Iraqi servicemembers and civilians. However, one mission was particularly remarkable.
One morning, Sergeant Haffner's team each packed over 100 pounds of supplies, tools and explosives, and set out on a 4-kilometer foot patrol while embedded with a U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division unit and a platoon of Iraqi Army soldiers. The mission called for conducting search and attack missions to clear suspected anti-Iraqi forces supply lines, also known as "rat lines," and the destruction of enemy weapons caches along the Euphrates River. Terrorists use rivers and canals to smuggle explosives and small arms into Baghdad, and leave caches in the reeds and marshes along the river banks, Sergeant Haffner said.
The heightened awareness was palpable as the patrol scanned the passing terrain for threats. They avoided main thoroughfares by traveling back routes through farmland and countryside on their way to the Euphrates River.
Halfway through the mission, a blue vehicle appeared about 200 meters away and assailants opened fire on the patrol.
The patrol returned fire while tactically moving across open farmland toward cover. Sergeant Haffner's team and the Iraqi soldiers kept moving and cleared a house for a rally point and provided security over-watch. Ultimately, the insurgents fled after being wounded by gunfire and were apprehended at the nearest checkpoint soon after the attack.
"It was intense, and the adrenaline was pumping," he said. "There's little to rely upon but your training."
The patrol pressed on searching for weapons caches along the smuggling route on the river, and found and destroyed 150 pounds of enemy explosives, including several directional blast charges intended to target coalition force vehicles, Sergeant Haffner said.
This mission is indicative of counter insurgency methods Sergeant Haffner engaged in throughout his deployment, and of the efforts of Airmen in the Global War on Terrorism. He did more than mounting up in a Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle and responding to calls for EOD support on a daily basis, he served side-by-side with U.S. and Iraqi servicemembers in the field.
His service also demonstrates the Air Force's EOD role in Iraq. Air Force technicians represent 18 percent of the force, but disarm 45 percent of the IEDs and 66 percent of the unexploded ordnance, Sergeant Haffner said.
"Embedding with the Army instead of responding to calls saves a lot of precious time," he said. "EOD personnel are not strictly focusing on how an explosive is built or fused, or how to render a device safe, but looking at the larger picture in overall military campaign strategy."
A formal presentation of the Bronze Star was conducted on June 7 in Iraq, but a ceremony is planned to recognize Sergeant Haffner in front of Homestead Air Reserve Base Airmen during the September unit training assembly.