Bronze Star Medal awarded to Soldier

  • Published
  • By Bethany Buckingham
  • 20th Combat Aviation Brigade
SEDALIA, Mo. --  1st Sgt. David C. Gail, of Smithton, Mo., made history while serving in Iraq. He is the first member of the 449th Aviation Support Battalion of the Texas Army National Guard to receive the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Achievement.

Sergeant Gail received this honor for his work overseeing the maintenance of 120 Army helicopters during a recent year-long deployment to Iraq, which ended in July. 

Sergeant Gail regularly serves in the Missouri National Guard with the 1-135th Attack Battalion at Whiteman Air Force Base, but was activated and deployed with the 449th ASB in February 2006.

"We exceeded all brigade goals for aircraft readiness in Iraq," he said. "We never missed a mission."

Sergeant Gail was deployed with the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade based in Texas and served at Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. 

He was sent to train at Fort Hood, Texas, in February 2006, and he was later deployed in July 2006 to Iraq. 

While in Iraq, Sergeant Gail was in charge of ordering more than $12 million in aircraft parts, scheduling maintenance and ensuring all 120 helicopters were ready to be deployed at a moment's notice. 

This meant coordinating with both supply units in the theater of operations as well as here in the U.S. to get the high priority parts needed to maintain or repair the helicopters after a mission.

"You always had to know what the aircraft needed and have it on-hand or schedule maintenance so it was ready to go out again on the next mission," Sergeant Gail said. 

He was used to working with maintenance pressure here at the battalion and company level, which consists of about eight aircraft that are flown daily around the area. 

However, In Iraq that pressure was heightened to a Brigade level, which included 120 helicopters on daily missions which incurred varying amounts of damage.

"The aircraft received a lot of battle damage," Sergeant Gail said. "But, the people I worked with over there had positive attitudes and if something needed to be done, we got what we needed and got the job done."

Sergeant Gail is a full-time civilian technician with the Missouri National Guard's 1-135th Attack Battalion at Whiteman Air Force Base as an aircraft maintainer. He is the team leader of six mechanics and the aircraft assigned to that team. He organizes the priority of work for the team. That team supports helicopter pilots who fly during the week to maintain their combat readiness.

On drill weekends though, you'll find him trading his maintenance hat for the hat of First Sergeant for 1-135th Attack Battalion Company A. A first sergeant is in charge of making sure the troops are taken care of on an administrative level. He said that his experience in Iraq working with various people and organizations has helped him here in both areas of his Guard duties.

"It really opened my eyes to the big picture," he said. "We do our job and support them so [pilots] can do their job," he said.

Receiving the Bronze Star Medal holds special significance for Sergeant Gail because his grandfather, Marvin Kamper, of Cherryville, Mo., received a bronze star medal during his service in a tank battalion, under Gen. George Patton during World War II .

"When I heard I was being awarded the Bronze Star, I thought about my grandfather," Sergeant Gail said. "It is something we share now."

The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to a member of the military who, while serving in or with the U.S. military, distinguished him or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the U.S; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the U.S. is not a belligerent party.

Despite his grandfather's and father's military service, Sergeant Gail never thought he would join the military. His father, Dale Gail, of Sedalia, retired at Whiteman after 22 years in the service. After his dad retired, the family stayed in the area, but Sergeant Gail thought he was through with the military.

"I worked at Gardner-Denver in Sedalia for five years," he said. "I was always working most weekends anyway and thought about what else I could do during the weekend." 

It was his brother-in-law that talked him into joining the National Guard. That was 21 years ago. He became a full-time Guard member six years ago. 

Sergeant Gail lives in Smithton with his wife, Cindy, and two daughters, Breanna and Kaslyn. He is the son of Dale and Christine Gail of Sedalia.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, call 1-888-GoGuard or visit www.moguard.com.