Capt Edward Torres, Logistics 

On April 1, 2005, then-1st Lieutenant Edward Torres was on his 35th convoy mission as a Convoy Director of Operations with an Army Battalion in Balad, Iraq. As his team moved along their route, an improvised explosive device (IED) struck a convoy vehicle, seriously injuring a passenger.

Lieutenant Torres’ gun truck was first on scene, and his team rushed to provide medical aid and secure the kill zone. The team quickly realized there were multiple “daisy-chained” IEDs which had not detonated. Lieutenant Torres expertly guided his team out of the area and evacuated the injured. His quick and steady actions took the entire team out of harm’s way and saved the passenger’s life. Later that same day, Torres and his team again came under fire, finding themselves in the midst of a second IED attack. His team quickly secured their position. Lieutenant Torres assessed the situation and directed a call for close air support. A flight of F-16s responded and forced the insurgents to disengage.

On another mission, as Lieutenant Torres led a patrol through the town of Bayji, Iraq, a large IED disabled several convoy vehicles. Torres instinctively took action, directed suppression fire, and prevented further injury and damage. He bravely went into the kill zone to recover three Airmen and a disabled vehicle. These courageous actions allowed his team to safely return to their forward operating base.

Throughout Lieutenant Torres’ deployment to Iraq, he applied his combat experience in developing new and effective tactics for defeating IED threats and recovering disabled vehicles from ambush kill zones.