STEWART AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y. – -- Tech. Sgt. Devin Miller, 105th Combat Support Squadron combat arms section chief, was awarded the Air Force Combat Action Medal Nov. 1, 2025, at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York, for his actions during an assault on Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in 2015.
Miller was deployed to Kandahar Airfield as a tactical security element member with Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Expeditionary Detachment 2413, for six months between 2015 and 2016.
Two months into his deployment, on the evening of Dec. 8, 2015, insurgents launched a coordinated attack against the base consisting of direct fire, indirect fire and ground infiltration. Miller assumed his defensive position but recognized the base’s trauma center, staffed by unarmed civilian medical personnel, was unguarded and exposed. Miller left his position, despite incoming enemy fire, to run to the trauma center and evacuate the civilians to safety. He then continued to engage the enemy from his newly assigned position, provide real-time battlefield intelligence and relay enemy positions to coordinated response units.
His actions over the 27-hour attack preserved vital medical capabilities during the battle, allowing responding forces to target and eliminate ten insurgents.
“When you are in a high intensity situation, I think you kind of drop your own safety. You think about making sure other people are protected,” said Miller. “I didn’t really think about much besides getting over there, getting those people and making sure they had protection from the ballistics that were coming in. I couldn’t happily sit there and feel like I was doing the right thing if I didn’t go out and try to help them.”
Miller was recognized for these actions with the AF Combat Action medal in front of the Airmen and leaders of the 105th Base Defense Group during the November drill formation.
“By recognizing his actions, it reminds all Airmen that military service isn't just about readiness, it's about the willingness to stand in harm's way for the mission and for others,” said Senior Master Sgt. Flavio Martinez, 105th BDG senior enlisted leader. “It reaffirms the warrior ethos that defines the Air Force's combat heritage and connects every Airman to the core identity of the profession of arms.”
Miller noted that the importance of being awarded this medal is carrying on the legacy of the members lost during that 6-month deployment. He had his brothers to his left and right fighting for and supporting each other, he said.
The AF Combat Action Medal was established in 2007 to recognize any military member of the Air Force, airman basic through colonel, who actively participated in ground or air combat. To be eligible, the individual must have been under direct and hostile fire while operating in an unsecured space or physically engaging hostile forces with direct and lethal fire.