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Show AIR FORCE NEWS We deliver Airmen support Soldiers with meal airdrop Hilltop Times O August 11,2005 O Airman loses stripes, gains bars in drug use conviction BY SENIOR AIRMAN AMAANI LYLE 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs BY CAPT. CARLOS DIAZ 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) — People who raise their right hand in allegiance to the military know this promise inherently calls for resolute fearlessness. Last summer, one Airman's involvement with narcotics made him realize there is a fine line between courage and audacity. "I just honestly thought I could never get caught," said 20-year-old Airman Jake Hawkins, formerly a 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron pavement and equipment apprentice, now a Mannheim Correctional Facility prisoner. Airman Hawkins left his family home in Spencer, Ind., when he was 17 with the same compos— Airman Jake Hawkins ite of nervousness, ———excitement and hope shared by many young people beginning their adult life. "Right after 9/11,1 accelerated all my highschool testing so I could finish school early and join the military," he said. "It was such a great feeling to hear people say, 'That boy's doing something positive with his life.'" Now, one of the last things Airman Hawkins hears each night is the latch of the steel door — a constant reminder of his imprisonment for the introduction of Ecstasy onto a military installation, as well as illegal use and distribution of the popular club drug. Following tips from a couple of his friends and a subsequent investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Airman Hawkins was apprehended July 29, 2004, in a dormitory sting transaction with an informant. , • j While he should have been on permanentchange-of-statioh_ status this summer to Moody Air Force Base, Ga., his plans were instead thwarted by what he describes as U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Af Gerloff shuffled priorities. Senior Airman David Sanders checks the cables used for container delivery system airdrops. This airdrop mission "I've definitely learned my lesson, and my delivered 48 bundles containing about 69,000 pounds of food rations for U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers engaged In combatpriorities are straight now," Airman Hawkins operations against anti-Iraqi forces. Airman Sanders is a loadmaster with the 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron said. "I'm all about supporting my family." at a forward-deployed location and Is from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. The stakes were much higher than he thought. Airman Hawkins said his lapse in judgment cost him the opportunity to see the birth of his twin girls this year. His reaction to the conviction seems almost unexpected in light of the consequences. "In a way, getting busted was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said. "I still BY STAFF SGT. KRISTINE DREYER love the Air Force — I just got involved with 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs the wrong environment, the wrong crowd. MCCONNELL AFB, Kan. (AFPN)—A I was more worried about myself than my KC-135 Stratotanker instructor pilot medifuture." cally assisted a young girl after she was hit The Airman said his future seemed, at best, by a car, potentially saving her life. uncertain once Air Force officials became As Capt. Kevin Thomas, of the 349th Air aware of his drug use. Refueling Squadron, drove home the evening "Airman Hawkins just about came to tears of July 28, he saw a car stopped in the westwhen he realized that this situation was very bound lane of a city road in Wichita, Kan. real, and he could lose everything he held When he came closer to the stopped car, he close to heart — his job, his family, everyrealized there was a motionless person lying thing," said Master Sgt. Thomas Bathe, 52nd on the ground. CES' pavements and equipment section chief He immediately switched lanes, made a Uand Airman Hawkins' second-line superviturn to park his car and got out to assist. sor. "On the sidewalk, I saw a young girl who "I'm only sorry that when he was first prewas about 6 to 9 years old, and she was unsented the choice to use drugs or not, he conscious," Captain Thomas said. didn't apply the standard of responsibility While many people may not know what to he's now brought to the forefront of his life," do in a situation like this, Captain Thomas Sergeant Bathe said. did. Before joining the Air Force, he worked This very choice is one that an increasing as an emergency medical technician at Libnumber of adolescents must make each day. erty University in Lynchburg, Va. The opportunity to encounter Ecstasy grows "As I approached, no one appeared to be in proportion to the staggering rate of its in charge," Captain Thomas said. "So, I anmanufacture. nounced myself as a former EMT and asked According to the Drug Enforcement Agenif I could provide help." cy Web site, the agency seized more than 3 After no objections, Captain Thomas moved million pills in 2000, with most of the pills into action and used his EMT knowledge to likely manufactured in illegal pharmacies in assess the victim while the driver reported western Europe. The drug can make its way the condition of the girl to 911. into the hands of as many as 10 percent of "My first concern was her airway, breathpeople ages 12 to 24. U.S. Air Force photo ing and circulation," Captain Thomas said. "The majority of the world's Ecstasy conAfter confirming the victim was breathing tain Thomas said. "She was waktinues to be produced in laboratories in the and had a viable airway, Captain Thomas ing slowly and was starting to get Netherlands and, to a lesser extent, Belbegan the next step with a C-Spine immobimore afraid as time went on." gium," said Steven Casteel, DEA assistant lization. To avoid aggravating any existadministrator for intelligence. "Given the "I basically held the cervical spine still to ing injuries, Captain Thomas increasingly global demand for the drug and prevent neck injury," he said. "After you asinstructed two men to gently hold the high-profit potential derived from its sale, sess the victim that is the first thing you want the young girl's arms and legs in production will likely expand to other areas to do." — Capt. Kevin Thomas place. in the future." After a few minutes, a crowd began to ___ Minutes after the girl awoke, With Ecstasy being detected in more than form. two fire trucks arrived on the 900 urinalysis tests conducted by the Depart"A bystander told me the young girl's name, he dictated them. scene. As the emergency crews ment of Defense in 2001, the numbers show Shortly after, the mother and another rela- assessed the situation, Captain Thomas gave and I told him to go get her mom," Captain that Ecstasy pills are slipping past the gates tive of the girl came out of the house. Captain them a brief overview of his actions. Thomas said. of military installations just as easily as they Captain Thomas asked if anyone saw what Thomas worked to keep everyone calm and "The entire incident, from the time I arbypass schoolyard fences. had happened. A couple of boys said she had instructed the relatives to softly talk to the rived until the ambulance took her away, was Wherever drugs may end up, Sergeant girl. chased a loose ball into the street. Captain probably 10 minutes," Captain Thomas said. Bathe said, the responsibility is ultimately a Thomas then instructed someone to get a "As she woke up, I calmly explained who I The girl has been released from the hospersonal one. sheet of paper and write down vital signs as was, and that I was trying to help her," Cap- pital. SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) — To keep yet another convoy off the road, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing aircrews at this forward-deployed location recently gave a textbook example of what agile combat support is all about. Several C-130 Hercules airdropped more than 69,000 pounds of Meals, Ready to Eat to U.S. and Iraqi Soldiers engaged in combat operations against Iraqi insurgents. "I've never felt more like I was supporting the troops than when I did this airdrop," said 1st Lt. Anta Plowden, a 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 co-pilot. "The troops we're helping are on the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom putting their lives on the line, and we're their lifeline. It's just an awesome feeling; we're dropping food and supplies so that the Soldiers can fight another day." The lieutenant, who is deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., said at first he was surprised about being selected for the combat airdrop mission but that training took over before, during and after the airdrop. "When I was first told that I was chosen to be part of this mission, I was a little shocked and very nervous," he said. "I thought there were many more experienced copilots (who) could've been picked instead of me." Lieutenant Plowden said the first thing he did was pull out all of his flight publications and read everything there was on airdrops. "I know it sounds silly," he said, "but by the time the mass briefing was over, I wasn't nervous anymore. It was something that we've all trained for, and I knew that we could do this." Long before the doors of the C130 opened and the 48 bundles rolled into the darkness from 600 feet above the ground, a detailed planning process dissected the mission with up-to-the-minute accuracy. just honestly thought I could never get caught" Pilot stops to give emergency care s I approached, no one appeared to be in charge.." |