Photo By Tech. Sgt. Devon Cole | Senior Airman Danny Combs, 4th Space Warning Squadron space systems operator, receives...... read more read more
A 310th Space Wing Airman recently received the 2024 Citizen Honors Service Award from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society for leading Teaching the Autism Community Trades (TACT), his non-profit organization, now recognized for being the most successful training-to-employment program in Colorado.
Senior Airman Danny Combs, 4th Space Warning Squadron space systems operator, Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado, gave up his musical career as a guitarist working with famous musicians like Taylor Swift and Faith Hill to found TACT in 2016.
He carved out a program designed to teach people with autism a skilled trade and find employment. Combs started TACT for his son, Dylan, 15, who was diagnosed with autism at age two because he refused to accept the limitations placed on him by therapists.
“It was always, ‘your son needs to work on this or that,’ but never on his successes,” Combs said. “I could have continued my career (as a musician) and given my son a great future, but what about everyone else’s kids?”
Combs debated for years if he should join the military. Spread thin between his community and family he sought the advice of his grandfather on servicing his country.
Combs's grandfather was an Air Force photographer in the Korean War who later became an executive at Northrop Grumman assisting the Apollo mission and DSP satellites. He advised his grandson to go further and go space all the way.
This led him to enlisting into the Air Force Reserve in 2020 at 39 years old.
“He was proud to see me join space operations,” Combs said. “He passed away in 2023; I’m privileged that he got to see me do it.”
Immediately recognized for his non-profits, the Secretary of the Air Force office of diversity and inclusion asked him to give a presentation on autism to the Air Force Neurodiversity Board last year.
“A microphone is only as loud as its audience, and we have to bring everyone together to make change,” Combs said to the board.
He said he is always impressed with how many people want to help, but simply don’t know how. His non-profits skills may soon help Air Force standards.
According to the U.S. Air Force Medical Standards Directory, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is not a disqualifying factor for continued military service unless it is currently compromising military duty or training.
“That’s wild in 2024, that those [stigmas] still exists,” Combs said after meeting members who have been delayed in their initial entry and others who have avoided treatment because of neurodivergent stigmas. “So [we are] trying to create a society that recognizes the value that they bring to the table that makes everybody’s lives better.”
Combs, who is also co-chair of Neurodiverse Air Force, has petitioned the Pentagon to initiate a study on service by neurodivergent individuals in the Department of Defense. He hopes the DoD will adapt Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which institutes flexible teaching to create equal opportunities of success.
The federally funded study aims to improve recruitment, management, and retention of neurodivergent servicemembers and civilian employees.
“When we make things inclusive, everybody wins,” Combs said.
The Congressional Medal of Honor Society awards only one individual per category since it was founded in 1958. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society has only awarded 12 individuals for the Citizen Honor for Service Act since 2014.
“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things,” said a Congressional Medal of Honor Society representative. “Whether they happen in a single instance of bravery or through continued service to others, acts of courage and self-sacrifice symbolize the American spirit.”
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.10.2024 17:01 |
| Story ID: | 470985 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 128 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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