Incirlik Chief receives Bronze Star Published Feb. 10, 2015 By Senior Airman Michael Battles 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- In recognition of his service, Chief Master Sergeant Daniel Simpson, was presented the Bronze Star Medal during a presentation ceremony Jan. 15, at Incirlik Air Base. Awarded to service members for acts of heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service in a combat zone, Simpson, now Superintendent of the 39th Mission Support Group received the Bronze Star for meritorious service during his deployment to Afghanistan. "I'm proud to be wearing the [Bronze Star]," said Simpson. "It's definitely an honor to be recognized with this level of recognition and very unexpected." Deployed out of Holloman Air Force Base, NM from November 2013 to April 2014, Simpson served as the Chief Enlisted Manager for the 466th Air Expeditionary Squadron based out of Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. As Chief Enlisted Manager, Simpson was responsible for monitoring the utilization, morale and welfare of joint expeditionary tasked and individual augmentee Airmen assigned to Regional Commands South, Southwest and West. Simpson explained that even though he was based out of Kandahar, he spent most of his deployment outside the airfield. While deployed, his primary mission was to ensure Airmen assigned within the three commands were being used according to the unit's request for forces. "There were many cases where the request for forces was 10-years-old, so what [our Airmen] were doing was not what they were originally asked to do," Simpson said. "If that was the case, we worked to get them utilized correctly, get them out of country or get the requesting unit the proper skill set they needed." As stated in the decoration presented to Simpson, he traveled nearly 900 hours during 78 base visits throughout Afghanistan in support of the mission to assess the safety, morale and utilization of 442 Airmen at 21 locations. According to Simpson, the best part of his deployment was the Airmen. "Seeing our Airmen go and do what they're trained for was a major highlight of this deployment," Simpson said. "Just hearing the praise that was heaped on them by the supported commanders they supported from the Army, Navy, Marines, Afghan National Police, and the Afghan Army was truly amazing." Overall Simpson said this deployment was a very proud experience, one that showcased what our Airmen are capable of achieving. "If I had to sum up this deployment in on word, it would be -- humbling."