U.S. Air Force Col. Mike L. Bunning, the son of Boyd Bunning of Gold Beach, is currently deployed overseas at a forward-operating location in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Operation Iraqi Freedom is the official name given to military operations involving members of the U.S. armed forces and coalition forces participating in efforts to free and secure Iraq. Mission objectives focus on force protection, peacekeeping, stabilization, security and counter-insurgency operations as the Iraqi transitional governing bodies assume full sovereign powers to govern the peoples of Iraq.

Members from all branches of the U.S. military and multinational forces are also assisting in rebuilding Iraq's economic and governmental infrastructure, and training and preparing Iraqi military and security forces to assume full authority and responsibility in defending and preserving Iraq's sovereignty and independence as a democracy.

Regularly, Bunning is commander of the 59th Medical Wing at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He will be serving in Iraq for six months. He has served in the military for 18 years.

Bunning received a bachelor's degree in 1980 from Cameron University, Lawton, Okla. He earned a doctorate degree in 1980 from Oklahoma State University, Stillwater.