Meet Your Military
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PHOTO: Senior Airman Christopher Moore has been a mechanic for the Air Force for three years and is deployed to Southwest Asia from the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Bowcock SOUTHWEST ASIA – What little boy doesn't like ripping apart his toys and making a mess of things? But the older most men get, the more expensive and fancier the toys become. Air Force Senior Airman Christopher Moore, a vehicle mechanic with the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, is no exception. When it comes to tinkering and fixing things, he has a passion and curiosity for it all. Now, his toys are much bigger than they were when he was a boy, and they belong to the Air Force. "Working on cars brings a sense of pride when you see what you've fixed," Moore said. "I recently replaced the engine in a truck. It took three days to take apart the entire vehicle, but it felt good to hear the engine fire up and to watch it drive away." He said he likes to challenge himself and feels confident in his skills to try new projects and learn from them.
Moore grew up in Lebanon, Missouri, with his father after his parents divorced. He was 13, when he started working as a floor sweeper at a salvage yard. Throughout his teenage years, he spent his time working at his father's vehicle restoration shop, where he developed his skill for working on cars. In college, he worked as a mechanic at a major automotive business and continued to refine his maintenance skills. "I went to college for two years, taking classes such as marine biology, science and other subjects, but I was really drawn to auto mechanics," said Moore, who is deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Vehicle Mechanic Brings Passion to His Service
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PHOTO: Army Pfc. Erica Haynes prepares to perform an extraction during the Vibrant Response 14 exercise at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Ind., Aug. 2, 2014. CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. – On a hot Saturday afternoon, Army Pfc. Erica Haynes of the Alabama National Guard’s 440th Chemical Company skillfully maneuvers over the debris of a collapsed structure, searching for survivors of a simulated nuclear explosion. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Dani Salvatore This Aug. 2 search and extraction exercise was the first training session for her unit at Vibrant Response 14 at the Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center here. Vibrant Response is a U.S. Northern Command-sponsored, U.S. Army North-led field training exercise for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive consequence management forces. It is designed to improve their ability to respond to catastrophic incidents. “Is anybody in here?” Haynes called out as she struggled to find her footing on the unstable rubble. “Is anybody in here?” On a hunch that someone could be trapped inside the structure below her, Haynes grabbed a large plank and began pounding the surface beneath her. “Can you hear me?” she exclaimed. “If you can, knock back!”
A muffled reply from below cried out for help. Haynes was prepared to do whatever it took to rescue the survivor. Search and extraction is her favorite skill to perform, she said. “You have to think off the top of your head, and you never know what to expect,” she explained. A survivor’s injuries and the integrity of the structure can complicate the extraction, she added, thus requiring a great deal of thought and skill to perform the rescue. “Are you hurt?” Haynes called out to the role-playing survivor trapped below her. The survivor’s right leg was injured, and he was unable to move it. Because he couldn’t move, Haynes and her team were unable to cut through the structure to perform the rescue without risking further injury to the survivor. This situation did not discourage Haynes, and she began searching for another way to extract the survivor.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Soldier Practices Search, Extraction
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PHOTO: Army Spc. David Beachey from Highland, Ind., who serves with the 1413th Engineer Company, Indiana National Guard, examines his work in the woodshop at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, July 26, 2014. KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – The road to becoming a leader could be considered a long one. While some soldiers march along, others charge up the road. Beachey, the primary sign maker, works for Army Spc. Keith Harris, the shop’s leader. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Ariel J. Solomon Army Spc. Keith Harris of the Indiana National Guard’s 1413th Engineer Company has been earning leadership positions since he attended basic training. Harris is in charge of his unit’s woodshop here. He leads several soldiers, each with varying amounts of woodworking knowledge. It's his job to form this group into a team and ensure their tasks are accomplished to the highest possible standard.
Harris credits the influence of his friend and mentor Darrell Harvey, because Harvey never gave up on him. Harris explained that he wants to be the same kind of person as he grows older. “Growing up, I wasn't the best kid. I was sent to military schools and boarding schools,” said Harris, who hails from Cicero, Indiana. “For some reason, [Harvey] knew I was doing wrong, but he would just keep pushing me to be a better person. I'd keep saying I would change but never did. It wasn't until the last military school that I decided Darrell was right and that's why I joined the military, because I needed something in my life.” Harris added: "It's like everything he ever said to me suddenly made sense. Ever since then we've been closer than we were when I was growing up.” Harris said the National Guard has given him a place to grow and build his leadership skills. He believes a good leader commands with respect, instead of simply commanding respect.
Army 1st Sgt. Michael Dunn of the 1413th Engineer Company, he said, has been one of his biggest influences in that regard. “I feel we fall from the same tree,” Harris said of Dunn’s leadership style. “I like the way he's able to lead; he doesn't have to yell and scream at people. People just follow him. He walks into a room and people just listen, and that's what I want to be." Harris’ soldiers describe his leadership style as adhering to the core value of selfless service. He puts the needs of his men above his own, taking extra time learning the various jobs and techniques used in the woodshop so that he can effectively train and impart knowledge to his soldiers.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Soldier Leads Troops in Woodshop
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PHOTO: Marine Corps Sgt. Levi J. Slife, far left, a joint terminal air controller, poses with fellow U.S. Marines and an Afghan soldier in Afghanistan in 2012. Courtesy photo CAMP HANSEN, Japan – Marine Corps Sgt. Levi J. Slife is a talker. Slife loves to talk while he fixes his truck and motorcycle back home in Littleton, Colorado. His Marine buddies say he ran his mouth during a firefight in Afghanistan while enemy rounds were chipping away at brick walls inches above his head. His Marine comrades claim he talks like Usain Bolt runs. He talks because it’s his job -- he is a joint terminal attack controller, an instructor and a noncommissioned officer. Slife “is very talkative, which helps when he teaches because he’s a charismatic instructor who can hold a Marine’s attention,” said Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Robert H. Cheathem, a native of Jacksonville, North Carolina, and a JTAC with Company L, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. “He can identify well with the Marines he’s teaching, and he’s very knowledgeable on the job, so he can speak eloquently when Marines ask questions.” Slife’s ability to speak clearly contributes immensely to his line of work when calling in close-air support or surface-to-surface bombardments on enemy positions.
He must relay information as quickly as possible to support his Marines, and has to remember the procedures to do so. There’s a lot to remember and lives depend on it. Slife’s path to becoming a joint terminal attack controller began when he enlisted as a fire support man during the spring of 2007. A fire support man is trained to scout forward with an infantry unit and call in artillery or long distance indirect fire. He then became a joint fire observer and learned how to use a laser designator and how to “talk-on” close-air support during his second tour in Afghanistan in the summer of 2010. This combined knowledge allows the fire support man to direct attack aircraft underneath the supervision of a joint terminal attack controller, who is the chief designator of close-air support ordnance and has the final say with the pilot or gunner before they commit to an attack.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Marine Keeps Conversation Flowing
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PHOTO: Air Force Capt. Ryan McGuire earns a gold medal in the 1,500-meter run at the 2012 Warrior Games at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. McGuire won five medals at the 2012 Games to add to the three he won in the inaugural Warrior Games in 2010. Courtesy photo JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – In 2009, a young Air Force lieutenant in pilot training thought his dreams of flying in the Air Force were crushed after a recreational boating accident resulted in the loss of his right leg. Despite the accident, Capt. Ryan McGuire, now a 4th Airlift Squadron pilot, became the first airman to complete Air Force pilot training after losing a leg. He since has become a motivational speaker to airmen. The boating accident happened when McGuire was in pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. The boat McGuire was on was towing a float with a rope. The rope wrapped around McGuire's leg, fracturing his pelvis, dislocating his hip and cutting off the blood circulation to his leg. Six weeks later, McGuire's leg was amputated. "The days leading up to the amputation were overwhelming and depressing," McGuire said.
"The amputation was miserable. I was at the lowest of low." McGuire said his depression was compounded by the fact that he probably would not be allowed to fulfill his dream of completing pilot training in the Air Force. But when he began his rehabilitation program, he added, he began to realize his situation might not have been as dire as he thought it was. After his surgery, McGuire was waiting for a physical therapy appointment when a soldier asked him when he had lost his leg. "Last week," McGuire responded. McGuire said he was surprised when the soldier told him he had lost a leg the previous year. "Seeing him in uniform walking perfectly normal made me realize that being an amputee doesn't define me," the captain said. In addition to his rehabilitation, McGuire said, the support system of his family, friends and Air Force wingmen was a key part of his recovery.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Amputee Pilot Inspires Fellow Airmen