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Friday, May 25, 2012 | Hurlburt Warrior | Page
Air Force Cross recipient soars with ‘Eagles’
By Ashley M. Wright
Air Force Special Operations
Command Public Affairs
Ashley M. Wright | USAF
Tech. Sgt. Robert Gutierrez, Special Tactics Training Squadron instructor, signed hundreds
of Gathering of Eagles lithographs at Hurlburt Field, May 17. Gutierrez, a recipient
of the Air Force Cross is the only active duty, enlisted Airman to be part of the annual
program that promotes air power lessons through first-hand experiences.
Next to the signatures
of the “Candy Bomber,” a
Tuskegee Airman, the sixth
Chief Master Sergeant of
the Air Force and a Vietnam
prisoner of war, Air Force
Cross Recipient Tech. Sgt.
Robert Gutierrez placed his
name as the only current
active duty enlisted Airmen
to be named an “Eagle.”
Two members of the Air
Command and Staff College’s
Gathering of Eagles
team visited here recently
to lay the foundation for
Gutierrez’s experience as a
member of a distinguished
group of air power legends.
“I mean that is history in
the books. Our young men
and women read about that
and inspire to do all that
stuff. The big stories, what
they have done for our nation,
and then there is just
me,” said Gutierrez, a combat
controller currently
serving as a Special Tactics
Training School instructor.
“I’m defiantly honored.”
Starting in 1982, students
of Air Command and Staff
College began the Gathering
of Eagles, a yearlong,
student-run research elective
at the college, which
collects, educates and advocates
air, space and cyberspace
history through
biographical studies and
personal interviews with
the student-selected Eagles.
Each year, the 15-person
student team is responsible
for selecting, contacting, researching,
visiting and interviewing
the Eagles.
The culmination of the
event is a week-long symposium
aimed at bringing
history to life, and in June,
Gutierrez will travel to Air
University at Maxwell Air
Force Base to tell his story
to 514 majors currently enrolled
in the college.
“It is not about what
happened to him, but his
whole story,” said Maj. John
Wahrmund, ACSC student
and GOE team member assigned
to Gutierrez.
“We came to visit to
establish a relationship,”
Wahrmund said, “and get
a better idea of what to ask
to give the best experience
[for the students].”
In October 2009, Gutierrez
and his team were ambushed
in Herat Province,
Afghanistan during a highrisk
night raid. The team
was trapped in a building
with no escape route and
several injuries. During the
firefight, Gutierrez was shot
in the chest and suffered a
collapsed lung. Despite this,
he continued to return fire
while calling in precision
strafing runs from an A-10
Thunderbolt II nearby.
“I just did my job, and
all I was doing was put my
input in the fight,” Gutierrez
said.
For his valiant, life-saving
actions, Gutierrez received
the Air Force Cross,
the service’s highest honor.
The two-day visit allowed
the team members
to Gutierrez see in action.
“We did a tour of [Special
Tactics Training School]...
and the process of how we
are making these battlefield
Airmen,” Gutierrez
said. “We are building a
better Airman to support
the fight.”
The training squadron,
part of the Air Force Special
Operations Command
Training Center, delivers advanced
and special tactics
skills to combat controllers,
tactical air control party,
special operations weather,
special tactics, pararescuemen,
security forces, combat
aviation advisors and
special operations medical
elements.
Another important objective
of the visiting student
GOE team is getting
the Eagle to sign hundreds
of lithograpths. The painting
Home Decor- Gifts- Gourmet
depicts the selected Eagles
and their airframe or contribution
to the air, space and
cyberspace industry.
Renowned aviation artist
Jay Ashurst painting is
recreated into lithographs
and each is hand-signed by
each Eagle and sold to help
fund the Gathering of Eagles
Foundation, which is a
nonprofit organization that
funds Eagle guest travel
and the Gathering of Eagles
week events.
Gutierrez signed about
400 of the lithographs, which
were detailed enough to see
patches worn by the Airman.
Each year the honored
Eagles are presented with
a lithograph as a remembrance
of the occasion.
“To be recognized for
this is an extraordinary
honor that I will, basically,
live with for the rest of my
life,” Gutierrez said. “It
makes me happy that my
kids will be able to see it,
and our career field gets to
see it.”
Gutierrez brings a
unique perspective to the
program, whose legends
span from World War II
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