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Tinker Airman awarded new Air Force Combat Action Medal

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE --  Maj. Karyn Ayers is one of an elite few.
   On Nov. 14, Col. Mark Correll, 72nd Air Base Wing and Tinker installation commander, presented the flight doctor, for the 72nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron, with an Air Force Combat Action Medal, the first one ever given to the wing.
   "Major Ayers is certainly deserving of this medal and I salute her for her service to her country and professional Airman actions while under enemy attack," said Col. Roger Goetz, 72nd Medical Group commander.
   From January to May 2005, Major Ayers was deployed to Forward Operation Base, Abu Ghraib, Iraq. During her five-and-a-half-month deployment, the major worked for the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center. As an independent medical advisor, she ensured no physical or mental harm was done to detainees undergoing interrogation.
   The major also cared for injured enemy and coalition forces, as she served as an emergency room and ward physician for the Army's Task Force.
   While deployed, FOB came under daily attacks from suicide bombers, grenades, mortars and insurgent attacks, among others. Despite the daily threat and several close calls, the major said she remained focused.
   "When you are deployed in environments where combat is a part of your daily regimen, you just do your job," Major Ayers said. "You do your job or people die."
   She never thought of being recognized for her actions. "Recognition is the last thing anyone is concerned about," she said.
   The combat action medal is a new award. According to an Internet encyclopedia, it has only been awarded to seven other Airmen. 
   It is the highest-level Air Force individual award, which does not earn Promotion System points. It is given to Airmen, who while performing their jobs on the ground or in the air between Sept. 11, 2001 and a not-yet-established date, were in direct enemy fire or consistently engaged with the enemy.
   "It is a great honor to be recognized along with my brothers in arms," Major Ayers said. "The United States Air Force has not traditionally been 'in the trenches.' The Iraqi conflict has changed that."