Gansberger awarded second Broze Star
Staff Sergeant Donald D. Gansberger, United States Air Force,
distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the
performance of outstanding service to the United States as Enlisted
Battalion Air Liaison Officer and Joint Terminal Attack Controller
(JTAC), Task Force Fury-West from Sept. 2 2009 to March 3, 2010
during Operation Enduring Freedom X.
Gansberger awarded second Broze Star
Staff Sergeant Donald D. Gansberger, United States Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service to the United States as Enlisted Battalion Air Liaison Officer and Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), Task Force Fury-West from Sept. 2 2009 to March 3, 2010 during Operation Enduring Freedom X.
Gansberger is a fifth-generation San Benito County native, whose parents Bob and Debbie Hooton Gansberger reside in San Juan Bautista. He attended San Juan School and Gavilan Community College, at the age of 12. He received his first Bronze Star during Operation Eagle Arrow, Gansberger’s patrol was compromised by enemy forces resulting in an immediate movement to contact, according to a press release.
For his more recent Bronze Star, Gansberger served as non-commissioned officer in charge of a 12- man team responsible for advising, assisting, and requesting close air support (CAS) for two battalions of paratroopers attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division overseeing a 61,900 square mile battle space. Gansberger exhibited outstanding leadership and expertise assisting in the establishment of the first-ever conventional U.S. Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) in Afghanistan’s Regional Command-West (RC-W). Within a few short hours of arriving at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Stone, Gansberger set up radios, computers and antennas on a bare bones base in order to quickly provide CAS to RC-West. He helped facilitate over 302 CAS missions, 141 Container Delivery System drops, 46 safe kinetic engagements and covered 3500 personnel and 700 vehicle movements during multiple convoys in support of 2-321 Field Artillery Battalion and 4-73 Cav.
Gansberger proved vital to the apprehension of the leader of the largest terror cell in Herat Province by directly controlling an MQ-1 Predator and relaying real-time Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) information directly to the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) ground commander. This information facilitated the rapid and bloodless capture of this High Value Target and four of his associates. While at FOG Todd, Gansberger’s expert situational awareness thwarted a potential catastrophic situation when a Container Delivery System (CDS) drop was nearly conducted onto hovering helicopters. In spite of Drop Zone (DZ) and Helicopter Landing Zone (HLZ) management not being the traditional role of the JTAC, he took immediate control and safely de-conflicted the airspace, avoiding the potential loss of five helicopters and more than 140 personnel. As a result of this situation, Gansberger developed a database for TF Professional to battle track and schedule rotary wing movements throughout Badghis and Herat provinces.
Gansberger comes from a family of military service – his paternal grandfather served in the Pacific during WWII and his maternal grandfather was a pilot in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific during WWII. Other members of his family have served in both the Army and Air Force, going back to his Great-great-great-Great Grandfather, Johnny Young who was the last surviving member of the GAR in San Benito County.
