page_title: Ramón Colón-López
section_title: 24th Special Tactics Squadron
hierarchical_section_title: Ramón Colón-López / Military career / 24th Special Tactics Squadron
caption_attribution_description: English: Pararescueman Senior Master Sgt. Ramon Colon-Lopez wearing the artifacts now displayed on a mannequin at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
context_page_description: Ramón Colón-López is a United States Air Force pararescueman. In 2007 he was the only Hispanic American among the first six airmen to be awarded the newly created Air Force Combat Action Medal. He served as the Senior Enlisted Leader of United States Africa Command from September 2016 to November 2019, and was confirmed as the 4th Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman on December 13, 2019.
context_section_description: From 1999 to 2005 Colón-López was a member of the 24th Special Tactics Squadron as a Special Tactics Element Leader. While a member of the 24th STS, from July 2002 to September 2004, Colón-López was deployed four times to Afghanistan as part of a joint task force to several classified locations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While deployed he participated in a series of joint operations, including direct assaults and combat search and rescue missions. During this time he also protected future Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai, and received his first Bronze Star Medal with valor for his actions under fire while supporting Karzai's security detail. His second Bronze Star Medal was for his actions after his helicopter was shot down during a mission in Afghanistan. After the helicopter crash landed, two Navy SEALs and Colón-López assaulted fortified enemy positions, killing five combatants and ensuring the safety of the remaining crew. He was selected to create and implement the unit's compartmented Personnel Recovery Advance Force Operations team, which serviced the entire Joint Special Operations arena.
  On March 11, 2004, Colón-López, together with his Advance Force Operations Team and elements of the Afghan National Strike Unit, participated in an operation which required the capture of a high level target and a follow-on site exploitation with the intention of preventing the proliferation of chemical weapons. His helicopter drew hostile enemy fire yet Colón-López continued on his mission, which resulted in two enemy kills, the capture of 10 enemy troops and the destruction of multiple rocket propelled grenades and small caliber weapons. In January 2005, after Colón-López returned to the United States, he was named Superintendent of Training and later as interim Commandant of the Pararescue and Combat Rescue Officer School.
caption: Colón-López in Afghanistan in 2004.
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