JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. -- After serving 16 deployments throughout the course of his career, one Airman earned a second Bronze Star after being called upon once more.
While being stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., Master Sgt. Ronald Bartsch, 633rd Communications Squadron cyber transport superintendent, left for two deployments to Southwest Asia for the United States Special Operations Command in support of a task force for Operation Inherent Resolve Sept. 22 to Nov. 2, 2014 and May 25 to Sept. 7, 2015.
Within the task force, Bartsch simultaneously held three positions, which included being an operations superintendent, a communications director and a senior enlisted advisor for a Joint Special Operations Air Detachment of 320 service members.
With a motto of, “one mission, many nations,” the purpose of OIR is to enable whole-of-action governmental actions to increase regional stability in Southwest Asia. One of Bartsch’s major roles was to help build two airfields at the base he was assigned to and at a forward-operating base nearby to enable hundreds of sorties during a special operations air campaign.
“We also expanded the ramp pretty heavily to make enough room for air assets that came in to support the fight,” Bartsch said. “We built the [main base’s flightline] from an abandoned airfield to an operational airfield that was large enough to get the fight going and sustain the fight.”
In addition to the runway, Bartsch also led and managed the construction of expeditionary hangars to allow maintenance to perform aircraft repairs under cover.
“It helped get the aircraft out of the weather if it was really bad,” Bartsch said. “We also didn’t initially have any air traffic control towers of our own. We were having to utilize the local nationals and liaise with them for what needed to be done for air traffic control.”
Bartsch gets the resilience and motivation needed for conducting the mission from his childhood.
“My dad taught me at a young age to always stick up for family and friends; be loyal,” Bartsch said. “He instilled in me what it means to be a warrior.”
To this day, Bartsch still remembers being a toddler when his father drove him to the child development center at Langley Air Force Base every day. He remembers a misty morning when he saw the light shining through the fog, which illuminated a checkered water tower, painting its light on the U.S. Air Force symbol.
“There was this feeling I got when I was four years old,” Bartsch said. “I knew this is what I wanted to do when I grew up.”
Coming into the Air Force, he kept that mindset. This attitude towards life has carried him through 18 deployments.
“A number of my deployments have been with special operations,” Bartsch said. “Going out there with those guys, seeing what they do every day and experiencing it instills in you what it takes to drive towards being a better Airman.”
Bartsch also had an opportunity to work alongside two of the 76 countries that are allied counterparts to the U.S. in the OIR coalition.
“We worked with Britain and Canada on the air and ground campaign,” Bartsch said. “We collaborated to find ways to help each other accomplish our missions together.”
When different coalition units intermingle in a shared airspace, it’s important to have everyone on the same page, Bartsch said.
“Throughout all of that, you cannot accomplish any of it without a team and a mindset of needing to take care of each other,” Bartsch said. “It’s pretty neat to see how everyone is part of the fight.”
After 18 deployments, Bartsch has a good sense of how every Airman relates to the mission, from fixing trouble tickets for the General’s email to serving on the frontlines on the battlefield, he said.
“Each deployment has had a level of difficulty,” Bartsch said. “They were all important jobs, especially to me.”
The deployments Bartsch has been on so far also helped him mature into the leader he is today, he said.
“What made Inherent Resolve challenging was that as a master sergeant, I was making operational decisions that a very seasoned chief normally would have to make,” Bartsch said. “In this type of position, you have to be able to make a decision and stick by it because the Air Force is trusting you.”
Bartsch’s role as a deployed task force communications director also placed him in a position normally held by an experienced major or lieutenant colonel, he said.
“It was an honor for me to be chosen for that job as well,” Bartsch said. “I was interfacing for the special operations communications side of the entire air war. I had to coordinate with Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command and other major commands and agencies that reported directly to Air Force Headquarters.”
Whether the day’s mission has to do with leading and inspiring a joint force of 320 service members, providing oversight of construction projects to enhance operation capabilities or fixing computers on base, Bartsch always encourages his Airmen to handle all tasks they are given with a sense of pride and fervor, he said.
“I’ve personally been involved in the fight,” Bartsch said. “It’s the good fight. What we’re doing overseas is the right thing to do and in the Air Force, we’re all part of something amazing.”