Bronze Star

By Sandy Morris

Albany resident Senior Master Sgt. Francis (Frank) Dawson, Jr. was recently awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service in the United States Air Force. 

Dawson received the award for his time serving as the group superintendent and air advisor for the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group inAfghanistan  from Oct. 24, 2019 to Oct. 11, 2020.

During this period, in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinal, Dawson helped lead 506 joint, coalition, and contract personnel and conducted 67 outside the wire missions while being exposed to significant danger from five rocket attacks and the prevailing threat of insider attack. 

Dawson was also instrumental to the establishment of a $24 million aircraft maintenance development center, Afghanistan’s first in-country maintenance training facility that helped produce 200 Afghan maintainers annually at a 51 percent cost savings over international locations.