You asked, "Isn't Combat pretty much a given in any Bronze Star?"

Actually, no. The Bronze Star was created in WWII to be the equivalent of the Air Metal. Aircrew earned the Air Metal for flying a certain number of missions (25, if memory serves). The Bronze Star is often given as a combat award, but that's usually with the combat V attachment. Here's some background info.

The Bronze Star Medal is a United States military individual decoration and is the fourth highest award for bravery, heroism or meritorious service.

Bronze Star Medal
General information

The medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the military of the United States after December 6, 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. Awards may be made for acts of heroism, performed under circumstances described above, which are of lesser degree than required for the award of the Silver Star. Awards may also be made to recognize single acts of merit or meritorious service. The required achievement or service while of lesser degree than that required for the award of the Legion of Merit must nevertheless have been meritorious and accomplished with distinction.

V device
The Valor Device or "V" device represents valor and does not denote an additional award. Only one may be worn on any ribbon.

I read of an Air Force officer who received a Bronze Star for finding a way to send two Predator signals over a single satellite channel. Here's a link to an article about 2 Air Force Captains who won the Bronze Star for logistics support* duty in Iraq. No combat was involved. Here's another relevant link

Additionally, and while most of our Command supports those in-place missions, a growing number of our airmen are deploying as part of expeditionary forces. In fact, there are over 700 men and women from Air Force Space Command deployed today as essential elements of our Air and Space Expeditionary Forces. Last August, I had the distinct honor of presenting the Bronze Star Medal to an outstanding young communications officer, Captain Rob Lyman, at Schriever Air Force Base. He had deployed to Saudi Arabia and then on to Jacobabad, Pakistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. There, he commanded a communications team in the first tactical, forward deployment of the Predator weapon system. In the justification for his decoration, the CFACC/J6 said, “His efforts directly resulted in cutting the time-sensitive-targeting decision chain to less than 5 minutes, the fastest sensor-to-shooter time in history.” Now that’s an asymmetric advantage and space systems played a key role!

*Don't knock logistics. Amateurs talk tactics. Military professionals talk logistics as the key to war.