IA From Newest Carrier Gets Bronze Star

NEWPORT NEWS Va. - A Sailor who recently returned to USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) from Iraq after a tour as an individual augmentee received a Bronze Star.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class (SW) Earlene M. Obrien was stationed at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shield for 10 months in Baghdad. Obrien's responsibilities as a criminal investigator were very important to the overall mission.

"My role was to mentor Iraqi criminal investigators, in order to help establish a 'rule-of-law' for the city," said Obrien.

The Bronze Star is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. When awarded for bravery, it is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the ninth highest military award (including both combat and non-combat awards) in the order of precedence of U.S. military decorations.

Obrien worked on many different types of cases as a criminal investigator.

"I handled both Iraqi versus Iraqi and Iraqi versus coalition cases, of which included improvised explosive devices, kidnappings and murders," said Obrien.

According to Obrien, even if suspects were apprehended, it wasn't always easy bringing the cases to trial.

"Judges would be threatened on a regular basis," said Obrien. "They would have bombs placed on their cars or someone from their family kidnapped if they convicted an insurgent."

To ensure the safety of the judges, Obrien coordinated security teams to guard judges as they transited to and from the court house. Through hard work and dedication to the mission, over time, Obrien felt she was able to help bring about a sense of security to the Iraqi officials she was protecting.

"I saw judges that were not afraid of persecuting criminals and that was mainly due to American involvement," said Obrien.

Out of the many cases which were handled, one of the most important was one of international interest concerning a criminal charged with the kidnapping and murder of three American service members. Obrien and her team were able to bring the case to trial and present evidence in order to convict the criminal.

"I felt that if I didn't put my all into the cases, they would have never made it to court. I feel like my hard work and dedication paid off," said Obrien.

Working alongside Obrien, another CVN 77 crew member, Lt. Robert W. Burgett maintained logistics for various operations.

"MA1 Obrien was all about getting the mission complete," said Burgett. "She did an outstanding job representing the Navy and USS George H.W. Bush, setting the example for other military services and countries to follow."

For her hard work, dedication and outstanding duty performance during combat operations, Obrien was awarded the Bronze Star medal.

"The chain of command [at the FOB Shield] didn't give her that medal," said Burgett. "She earned it."