Munitions NCO featured in AF 'Portraits in Courage'

Master Sgt. Bob Jackson, 442nd Maintenance Squadron, is one of 13 Airmen featured by the Air Force in the second edition of the chief of staff's "Portraits in Courage." Gen. T. Michael Moseley said that Airmen chosen for this edition represent a small sampling of the tens of thousands of currently-deployed Airmen who courageously fulfill their missions day after day in harm's way. The men highlighted are a variety of ranks and career fields, pointing to the diversity of Air Force missions and that American Airmen are on the front lines. The project was intitiated by Genaral Moseley as a way to capture the grit, determination and commitment Airmen show every day. Sergeant Jackson was honored for disposing of a smoke-emitting white-phosphorus mortar round, which was part of a captured Iraqi weapons stockpile he and other Airmen were disposing of following the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Air Force reservist is credited with saving the lives of his teammates and others, as he ran to a nearby pond to douse the still-smoking 120mm round with his hands before it could ignite and cause the other 300,000 pieces of stockpiled munitions around it to detonate as well. Sergeant Jackson received the Airman's Medal for his act of bravery. To view the Air Force's Portraits in Courage, visit the link on the Air Force Web site at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123075075. (U.S. Air Force Photo Illustration/Maj. David Kurle)