Airman awarded medal for quick action in Iraq

***image1***Senior Airman Jennifer Noyes, 1st Air and Space Communications Squadron, was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal for her distinctive accomplishments during a 365-day deployment to Baghdad. The medal is the third-highest award bestowed on members of the U.S. military.

Airman Noyes was a communications advisor to the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team after volunteering to serve downrange for a year.

As a tactical operation center watch officer, she directed first responders to the rescue and recovery of four trapped Iraqi civilians and controlled three aerial medical evacuations, saving the lives of seven Iraqi men, women and children. Airman Noyes also prepared tactical radios for 10 convoys, completing four Baghdad convoys in support of unit site assessments and providing flawless communications wire to wire.
 
One of the best memories of her deployment was fixing some networking equipment upon her arrival in Iraq that had been claimed to be “too broken for repair.”
“Repairing it on my own was an amazing achievement for myself that I am very proud of,” said Airman Noyes.

***image2***She also recalls her most rewarding experience from her time in the desert.
The Internet was down at one of the warehouses, she said. It turned out someone had installed the wrong antenna. Five of us had to construct a new base and stand for the new 30-foot antenna, lower the previous antenna and raise the new one.

“This was the most rewarding experience because physically it was the toughest thing I had to do,” Airman Noyes said.

“It’s exciting to see our young Airmen, already doing great things at home station like Airman Noyes has done supporting our intelligence missions across U.S. Air Forces in Europe, getting fired up about deploying and serving our country at the tip of the spear,” said Lt. Col. Eric De Lange, 1st ACOS commander. “Then, to see them excel during their deployed time and be recognized for it is icing on the cake. No doubt we’ll see more great things from Airman Noyes in the future.”