FORT HOOD — The U.S. Army Operational Test Command honored past and present testers on Thursday during a joint awards ceremony at its headquarters.

The command welcomed home the 16th Forward Operational Assessment team from a six-month deployment to the Middle East, pinning members with Bronze Star and Defense Meritorious Service medals, among other honors.

Chief Warrant Officer-3 William Jarrett, who deployed from the command's satellite Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Directorate at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., was the only team member to receive a Purple Heart.

Col. Laura Richardson, the command's senior officer, called Jarrett's medal "unusual" for a tester, and he agreed.

"It's unusual that a test team member gets injured," Jarrett said. "We try to keep the ground transport to a minimum because it's the most dangerous."

Smiling, he said, "I thought we'd be crunching a lot more numbers than going out as often as we did."

The warrant officer was injured July 5 in southern Afghanistan when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb during an assessment mission. The mission, involving an advanced mine resistant vehicle, was scheduled to be his last of the deployment.

Jarrett, the only soldier injured in an incident, broke his leg in two places. He was using crutches Thursday, but said he should be able to run again within six months.

The 16th team — a mix of about 25 active-duty soldiers and civilian personnel who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait in February — returned to Fort Hood and command satellite directorates across the U.S. last week.

The Operational Test Command, based at Fort Hood, assesses the performance of combat equipment before the Defense Department purchases it for wide use. Every six months, a forward operational assessment team deploys to test equipment in theater.

Being recognized by the command for achievements in theater is "humbling," Jarrett said. "I just did what everyone else did. You never know what's going to happen."

The best part of Thursday's ceremony, he said, was reuniting with his teammates, who traveled from across the U.S. to Fort Hood.

Jarrett shook hands and joked with Sgt. 1st Class Mitchell Hasty, who also was deployed to Afghanistan's Regional Command South. Hasty is stationed at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland.

"Chief brought a lot to the team," Hasty said. "He's a good guy and it's really great seeing him here."

The command also inducted a 32nd member into its Operational Testers' Hall of Fame during the ceremony. In his acceptance speech, retired Maj. Howard Dean Horton, an operational tester with 47 years of combined military and civilian experience, told testers present to remember who they're working for.

"Never forget that your ultimate consumer of the product is our active-duty soldiers," the North Carolina resident said.

For more on the ceremony, read Wednesday's Fort Hood Herald.