Silver Star recipient Master Sgt. Michael F. Sears, 177th Fighter Wing, addresses National Guard Bureau and New Jersey National Guard leadership, family, friends and fellow 177th Airmen June 28, 2014, at the 177th Fighter Wing in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. He received the Silver Star, the third highest military award, for actions while deployed to Afghanistan on Sept. 29, 2012. On that day, a three-man Air Force explosive ordnance disposal team led by Sears found itself in the middle of a complex ambush in Ghazni province, Afghanistan. During the course of a two-hour firefight, Sears provided life-saving aid to a fallen coalition soldier from Poland, ran five times through a 150-yard open area riddled with enemy machine gun fire to direct his team in returning fire, and continued on with the fight after being knocked temporarily unconscious by a rocket-propelled grenade blast. Sears joins a group of 58 Airmen who have been awarded the Silver Star since the Global War on Terrorism began. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/Released)