Greg And Hollie In The Morning

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Friday, February 19, 2010

How It All Happened

Howdy! Well I have had a lot of emails from people wanting to know how this trip came to be, so I though I would share a little of the story with you. It all started in April of 2007 when Major Paul Hayes made a visit to Quicksie to introduce himself and the 3rd ESC to station personnel, He said his goal was to make the community aware of what the 3rd ESC was all about. A bond formed from there between Quicksie and the Unit. We were at Ft. Knox for tours and to be apart of Unit Drills. We were there when they left for Iraq in 2007 and talked with them on the air every week during their 15 month deployment. During that time I was invited to join them in Iraq for a period, but was unable to go due to issues, but really wanted to see what it was like for the soldiers deployed.

I have developed a personal friendship with Major Hayes and quite a few other 3rd ESC soldiers, and when the offer was made to join them in Haiti to report on Camp conditions and the impact of this tragic earthquake, I couldn't say no. I had a high degree of respect for our troops before this trip, but after feeling a small piece of what they go through before, and during a deployment, that respect has went to such a high level I don't think I can chart it.

Planning for this trip began last week, and hit a fever's pitch last Friday (Feb 12th) when insurance gave me permission to go. When I made the call to Major Hayes that I was a go for the deployment, the phone calls & texts started lighting up. Different people in Haiti, Ft Bragg and at Knox started the process of getting me here. The Quicksie Engineer Phil Jockell went to work to make sure technical studio details could be worked out for the show. By Monday (Feb 15th) we had a plan in place. Tuesday (Feb 16th) I made a test run of the equipment from my home, I had no idea that less than 12 hours later I would be on a plane bound for Ft Bragg North Carolina.

Here is how that 26 hour Trip looked:
Medical Shots @ 10:15am
Packing & final trip to store for supplies
Arrive at the Airport at 4:30pm
Flight to Atlanta at 5:50pm
Flight to Ft Bragg at 9:45pm
Get to sleep in the Barracks at Ft Bragg @ 2am
Wake up @ 7am for Chow
Arrive at Air Force Hanger at 9am
Flight to Homestead Miami on a C-130 at 1pm
Flight to Haiti on a C-130 at 4pm
Arrive in Haiti at 7pm
After processing and gear storage, we finally made it to bed at midnight.

After looking back on all of the issues and stresses of getting to Haiti and the fact that Wednesday's big travel day was my 36th birthday, I don't think I could have asked for a better birthday. A day that I truly learned why we call our soldiers and their caring families..."American Heros".

Greg

1 comment:

Melissa Nangle said...

JLC posted a link to this blog on their FB. So glad they did - I was wondering how the Haiti trip was made possible. Thanks - it's an insightful read!