A 354th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal tech-

nician has been nominated for a second Bronze Star and Army Commendation medal with valor for his response after a sol-dier stepped on an improvised explosive device while on a foot patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan. While assigned to the 966th EOD Flight, Operating Lo-cation-Bravo, in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, Staff Sgt. Kenneth Guinn and his team augmented a U.S. Army platoon on foot patrol in search of IEDs. Near the end of the operation, a soldier on the patrol stepped on a pressure plate and was catapulted into a nearby well. Guinn rushed to the soldier's aid. "I jumped in the well and saw that both of his legs were gone and he was in danger of losing his arm," Guinn said. "That's when my brain switched off and my training took over." Guinn and his EOD team mem-bers quickly applied tourniquets to each of the soldier's thighs and one to his arm. He later

By Airman 1st Class Zachary Perras354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

T o o B r a v e T o F a i l

Senior Airman Lee Mclean (left) and Staff Sgt. Kenneth Guinn, 966th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Operating Location-Bravo partnership team, prepare an inert improvised explosive device for practice operations March 13, 2012. Airmen assigned to the partner-ship team within OL-B train, mentor and subsequently validate Afghan National Army EOD technicians.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Greg C. Biondo

2

found out that the tourniquet he placed on the soldier's arm saved the limb from amputation.When Guinn arrived at Eielson in June 2011, his peers immediately knew that he took his job seriously and was committed to carrying the mis-sion forward. He was presented his first Bronze Star here in fall 2011 before leaving for his third deployment to Afghanistan."Right away, I could tell that he was a top-shelf Airman," said Senior Master Sgt. Heath Tempel, 354th CES EOD flight chief and Guinn's supervi-sor. "He would lead the guys on any task and I knew I could lean on him and rely on him to get things done."Guinn's professionalism and level of dedication to his career are apparent in nearly every aspect

Staff Sgt. Kenneth Guinn (left) and Senior Airman Lee Mclean, 966th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Operating Location-Bravo part-nership team, prepare an inert improvised explosive device for practice operations March 13.

of his personality. During pre-deployment train-ing at Tyndall Air Force Base, he was named the outstanding team leader during the Combat Operational Battle Ready Airman course."He is the professional EOD NCO that any flight chief would wish to have - anything that you would desire in an EOD team-lead is what he embodies," Tempel said. "I'm incredibly proud of him and this is right in line with his character."As a leader of a three-man team in Afghani-stan, Guinn is standing out among his peers on the counter-IED front. In the first month of his deployment, he and his team found and cleared 48 IEDs in the Panjwai district, the most of any EOD team in Regional Command-South. Because of his experience outside the wire,

Guinn was selected to work on a partnership training team with the Afghan National Army. Currently, he trains, mentors and subse-quently validates ANA soldiers through a number of operations to safely identify, investigate and render safe unexploded ord-nance and IEDs.Until he returns to Ei-elson in June, Guinn will continue efforts to make a positive impact on the mission in Afghanistan. "I don't think we will be able to success-fully withdraw from Afghanistan unless we train the Afghan Na-

tional Security Forces to follow in our footsteps and independently continue the mission," he said.

“He would lead the guys on any task and I knew I could lean on him and rely on him to get things done.”

Staff Sgt. Kenneth Guinn (far right), 966th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Operating Location-Bravo partnership team member, leads the team to a training area for practice operations March 13.

Staff Sgt. Greg C. BiondoStaff Sgt. Greg C. Biondo

"I think the fruits of our labor will become evident only after we turn over the counter-IED mission, and if the teams that we validate are not successful with their mis-

Fakhr Uddin (left), an Afghan National Army soldier, participates in a debrief after practice counter-IED opera-tions while Staff Sgt. Kenneth Guinn, 966th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight Operating Location-Bravo partnership team member, looks on March 13.

Staff Sgt. Greg C. Biondo

43

-Senior Master Sgt. Heath Tempel, 354th CES EOD flight chief and Guinn’s supervisor.

sion, then we have failed with ours."(Tech. Sgt. Beth Del Vecchio, U.S. Forces Central Public Affairs, contributed to this article.)