Beale captain earns Bronze Star medal

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class George Cloutier
  • 9th RW Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (ACCNS) --  A captain with the 9th Security Forces Squadron here recently received a Bronze Star for his meritorious service while deployed in Iraq. 

Capt. David Celeste Jr., 9th SFS officer-in-charge of training and resources, earned the medal for his contributions to the war fighting effort while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom as the flight's officer in charge of area security operations for the 586th Expeditionary Security Force Squadron from June 14 through Dec. 14. 

While deployed to Camp Bucca, Captain Celeste worked directly with the Army, providing installation security for the 2,500 coalition forces and 11,000 detainees at the largest coalition theater interment facility in the world. Captain Celeste implemented procedures that contributed to the safety of coalition forces and ensured mission success. 

In an example of the Air Force's direct and continuing support of ground operations in Southwest Asia and the Global War on Terror, Captain Celeste performed a duty normally reserved for the Army. 

"We were doing an Army in-lieu-of mission, which are taskings that have increased over the years because the Army can't fill them," Captain Celeste said. "They tapped into the Air Force, specifically security forces, to do some of the missions that typically the Army has done in the past." 

After spending two months training with the Army, Captain Celeste was sent to Kuwait, where he went through in-theater-training for 10 days before he was finally sent to Camp Bucca. 

"I was specifically an operations officer for all security outside the wire," the captain said. "If somebody left the forward operating base, I was responsible for their well being, whether it was convoys or security details. We were outside the wire, actively patrolling and doing reconnaissance work. We were actively deterring any activity." 

One of the captain's and his flight's main responsibilities was providing security for the main supply route coming into Camp Bucca. This meant not only fending off the enemy, but searching for improvised explosive devices. 

"We actively dismounted from our Humvees and went out there searching for IEDs," the captain said. 

During one of the searches, an IED exploded and injured three members of the captain's team, all of which were Air Force personnel. 

"My guys, three of them got hit and got purple hearts, because they were doing their mission," the captain said. "That was something unique to deal with, to have your guys get injured like that and have to react to it. The Air Force doesn't really have direct contact like that. The Army deals with it all the time." 

To counter such IED attacks, electronic counter measure devices are installed into vehicles. During his deployment, Captain Celeste received first hand experiences with these devices and even implemented a plan that increased the efficiency by which new ECMs were installed. 

According to the captain, his team received a mission to take 16 vehicles to a destination about three hours away from Camp Bucca to have ECMs installed. 

The mission was going to take four days, taking four vehicles per day. When he and his team arrived on the first day, he found that there was only one civilian contractor from the company who manufactures the ECMs. 

After fitting the four vehicles with the new units, the captain came up with a plan to take the remaining units back to Camp Bucca, and his team would install the units themselves, thus eliminating the dangerous drive and cutting down on the man hours needed to complete the mission. 

By implementing this plan, the captain ensured the safety of his team, which he said is certainly due to the safety provided by ECMs. 

"Many things could have happened, I like to think that the ECMs worked and they provided that protection," the captain said. "My guys did a sweep of a bridge and came up with negative findings. As soon as my guys passed, the IED went off. The convoy passed unharmed." Through the course of his deployment, the captain received countless such occurrences. 

He supervised his flight's completion of over 456 combat patrols, totaling 15,000 patrol hours, with 38,000 miles driven, in approximately 100 square kilometers of U.S. and British areas of operation. In doing so, he saw many examples of the true cost of the war effort, but he also saw the great things American forces are doing for the quality of life for the Iraqi people in his line of duty. 

"I can speak specifically on why I was there, and specifically escorting large amounts of money to fund the local area," the captain said. "There was a water treatment facility that we gave millions of dollars to. We also gave thousands of dollars to the local school district. We're trying to win the hearts and minds by helping with the simple stuff, the schooling and fresh water, things we take for granted that they don't have, and we're trying to give that to them."