EOD ‘hero’ rewarded with Bronze Star Published May 5, 2006 By Staff Sgt. Jeff Kelly 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs CHARLESTON AFB, S.C. -- Hero is a term that is thrown around very liberally these days. Some people of course get labeled as a hero undeservingly, while others are assigned the moniker for situations or actions unquestionably heroic. Chief Master Sgt. Michael Schmiege of the 315th Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit fits the second description. For this reason, Chief Schmiege has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal. Chief Schmiege’s performance in the role of EOD superintendent while deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, was nothing short of remarkable. In this role, he was responsible for EOD operations covering five forward operating bases plus Balad. His missions included identification, evaluation and disposal of Improvised Explosive Devices, Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Devices, unexploded ordnance, weapons caches and post blast investigations. His actions made the battlefield safer for U.S. and Iraqi military combat operations and ensured major supply routes throughout the area remained clear for coalition and local national use. During one mission to identify and destroy enemy VBIEDs, Chief Schmiege discovered the enemy had placed a VBIED adjacent to a local national’s occupied residence. When Chief Schmiege discovered the residence could not be evacuated, he devised and personally implemented a plan to remotely render the device inoperative. He put on his bomb suit and cleared the remaining explosive hazards, winning the hearts and minds of the local town and saving the lives of six Iraqi children. During a separate mission to render safe an IED, he used his keen situational awareness to locate a buried secondary device designed to kill anyone who responded after the first device was detonated. He assessed the device’s complicated circuitry then safely disposed of the hazard without threatening his team. Chief Schmiege was clearing the scene when he found a third IED placed just a few feet from his team. He was unable to evacuate, so at mortal risk to himself, Chief Schmiege walked up to the device, employed a render safe procedure that mitigated the threat and saved himself and his team from certain harm. “He will tell you that he was just doing his job,” said Donia Schmiege, Chief Schmiege’s wife. “He was doing what he always does and somebody finally noticed. I feel like he is always doing something great and after all these years he is finally being recognized for it.” Chief Schmiege’s superiors agree. “He is the epitome of an all-star warrior,” said Lt. Col. Cindy Lundhagen, 315th AW Civil Engineering Squadron commander. “He has already been to the desert once, and he is volunteering to go again. He is a great guy and has a wonderful wife and children. He serves as a father figure and mentor to everyone under him. He is a fantastic role model.” Chief Schmiege’s life saving tactics saved the lives of countless people and won him the Bronze Star Medal. It is this fact combined with descriptions like the one given by his squadron commander that earned him the title hero.