TSgt Vilma Cantu: Combat Camera 

Technical Sergeant Vilma Cantu led a two-person combat camera team for more than six months in Iraq. She supported 34 ground combat missions, eight air assault raids, and a total of nearly 600 hours acquiring video intelligence and documentary video for Multi-National Corps Iraq.

While patrolling one day with a Stryker brigade and a concerned local citizens group, Sergeant Cantu and her team were caught in a complex ambush along the Tigris River. Throughout the three-hour firefight, she continued to film with her video camera while returning fire with her M-4 carbine and sidearm.

Although the fire she provided helped subdue the enemy and capture three terrorists, the imagery she captured of the entire battle was just as valuable to the brigade and division commanders. Sergeant Cantu’s ability to rapidly assess the situation allowed her to shift between filming and shooting as necessary, and ensured accomplishment of her mission as a combat photographer and fulfillment of her duties as an American Airman and warrior.

Sergeant Cantu’s motivation through this fight and several other combat situations was very simple: document the selfless actions of her fellow warriors. As she put it, “I was just doing my job by documenting our many brave service members in action.” In her case, one of these brave service members was actually behind the camera.