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***image1***Tech. Sgt. Cynthia Brown, 435th Security Forces Squadron training instructor, was nominated for the Trailblazers Recognition Award which is one of the highest honors any military female can achieve.
The Trailblazer award is presented to women who have been “first” to achieve a significant accomplishment in their respective military service.
As the first female Air Force dog handler attached to a special forces team in Afghanistan, Sergeant Brown and her dog, Rico, performed 40 missions resulting in three munitions finds, which provided safety to the men and women serving in the area.
“If I am able to save just one life, then I know that I have done my job,” said Sergeant Brown. “Your actions downrange really determine who is going to be able to come home to their families.”
For this tour downrange, Sergeant Brown also received the International Security Assistance Force North Atlantic Treaty Organization Medal, Army Accommodation Medal and was nominated for the Air Force Combat Action Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.
“If not for Rico and the brave men on the Special Forces team, I would not be here today,” said Sergeant Brown. “And I continue to thank them every day; no matter where I go, they are my heroes.”
Sergeant Brown plans to pass on her skills and experience to the next generation of Airmen. She wants to one day teach at the security forces schoolhouse as a training instructor in San Antonio, Texas.
Sergeant Brown has already won the Trailblazer Recognition award at the U.S. Air Forces in Europe level and will continue on to compete Air Force wide this summer.
