JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Senior Airman Andrew J. Nichols, a pararescueman with the Alaska Air National Guard's 212th Rescue Squadron receives the Bronze Star Medal in a ceremony here Dec. 7, 2013. Nichols was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his courageaous actions to save a wounded U.S. soldier under enemy fire in Afghanistan's Konar Valley on July 19, 2011. National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Theulen.