FORT RICHARDSON �” Command Chief Brian Vesco didn’t count on running into a group of Iraqi insurgents while on a routine ground convoy in October 2006.

Vesco and nine others were delivering equipment to a U.S. military base as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Vesco didn’t expect to come under fire or that he’d find himself actively defending his fellow officers and the convoy. The Wasilla resident also wasn’t expecting that 16 months later he would be presented the Bronze Star for his heroic actions that day, but on Thursday afternoon at Fort Richardson, the U.S. Navy command chief gratefully accepted.

“For all my buddies that didn’t come back, thank you,” Vesco said, choking back tears as he addressed a room full of naval officers at the Naval Operational Support Center (NOSC).

ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman U.S. Navy Command Chief Brian Vesco stands at attention Thursday during a Bronze Star ceremony at Fort Richardson at which he was honored for his heroic actions while in Iraq in October 2006.

The Bronze Star is awarded to any soldier in any branch of military service who, while serving, distinguishes himself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service.

More than 30 naval officers, recruiters and reservists, as well as members of Vesco’s family, came to show their respect at the Valentine’s Day ceremony. Many of the U.S. Navy’s top ranking officials stationed at Outside bases also were in attendance.

Vesco received the Navy red-carpet treatment inside NOSC at Fort Richardson Army Base Thursday, commemorating his valor and service on that day.

While serving as a naval officer in Iraq, Vesco was in charge of planning the movement and personal security of ground and air movements. On two occasions his ground convoy came under small arms fire from insurgents. On both occasions, he immediately reacted as an assistant gunner, returning fire and suppressing the enemy.

Under a large U.S. flag inside NOSC Thursday afternoon, Lt. Christian Gaskill read a statement written by Gen. David Petraeus of the U.S. Army, showing that Vesco’s deeds speak louder than words.

“[Vesco’s] actions ensured the safety of all members of the convoy,” General Petraeus says. “Additionally, he established accountability for $4 million of directorate equipment; a monumental task considering the number of personnel and amount of equipment involved. Chief Vesco’s actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect distinct credit on him, the multi-national force-Iraq, and the United States Navy.”

For Vesco, that warm day was one that would change his life.

“I had orders to drive a three-car convoy carrying nine soldiers from the armed forces to their destination,” he said. “When we came under fire from insurgents, I just naturally reacted. First and foremost, I thought about the safety of the soldiers.”

For the nine U.S. soldiers in the land convoy that afternoon in Iraq, there were no casualties, although Vesco couldn’t comment on whether the insurgents lost lives.

Vesco and his family moved to Wasilla in 1992, when he took command of the NOSC. He has been in the U.S. Navy for 23 years.

Vesco began his tour in August 2006 as a chief information systems technician responsible for maintaining the integrity and operability of the military’s network infrastructure in Iraq. There, he provided personal security with the U.S. Army to deliver equipment to various destinations.

“For me it’s a great honor,” Vesco said of receiving he Bronze Star. “I know that there are a lot of people that go to Iraq and don’t necessarily get the same recognition. For me, I was there to do a job when asked to.”

Vesco will be stationed as the command chief at the NOSC until 2009.

Combat recognition

“Attention on deck!” a naval officer instructs.

Rear Adm. James Symonds, commander of the Navy’s Northwest Region, presented Vesco with the medal.

“I’ve never been in combat, so I’ve never had the opportunity to be near a Bronze Star before now,” Symonds said. “So, I am honored I have this chance now.”

Symonds said the purpose of U.S. Navy in Iraq is to “widen the department of defense” by sending more than 14,500 naval officers since 2006 to serve and assist in Iraq.

“We want to help in any way we can,” Symonds said. “I picture Chief Vesco up on a Humvee pulling down the enemy. I imagine seeing the chief in action. He wanted to be where the action was. We’re all in the same Navy.”

Vesco’s father and mother, sister and two sons attended Thursday’s Bronze Star ceremony.

Flowers were given to Vesco’s mother and sister while his father and two sons received Challenge coins, colorful mementos given to families of challenged soldiers to enhance morale.

“He deserves it,” Vesco’s 17-year-old son Christian said of his father’s earning a Bronze Star. “I’m very proud of him.”

Christian, a junior at Wasilla High School, said he hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps when he graduates next year by possibly joining the U.S. Navy himself.

After Thursday’s ceremony, Chief Vesco’s mother, Pamela Vesco, had a hard time expressing a mother’s love for her son’s valor.

“You can’t describe it,” she said.