WEBVTT 00:24.489 --> 00:26.433 My name is Master Sergeant , Corey 00:26.433 --> 00:28.711 Oakley . I'm with the 944 Fighter wing , 00:28.711 --> 00:30.878 a medical staging squadron . So I'm in 00:30.878 --> 00:34.090 the Air Force for 19 years . My main 00:34.099 --> 00:36.400 job is medical logistics . So I support 00:36.409 --> 00:38.687 the medical mission with the air force . 00:38.687 --> 00:40.742 Always been in the reserve . A large 00:40.742 --> 00:42.965 part of why I joined the air force is I 00:42.965 --> 00:45.131 grew up next to an air force base . It 00:45.131 --> 00:47.242 has since closed , but I grew up next 00:47.242 --> 00:46.520 to an air force base . So that had a 00:46.529 --> 00:48.751 lot to do with me joining the air force 00:48.751 --> 00:51.380 as opposed to army Marines Navy , the 00:51.389 --> 00:53.611 Reserve . I just like the idea of being 00:53.611 --> 00:55.700 able to be a citizen airman , still 00:55.709 --> 00:57.950 have my civilian job and be able to 00:58.090 --> 01:00.201 fight for and defend our country when 01:00.201 --> 01:02.580 needed . So I've been with the 944 01:02.590 --> 01:05.160 Fighter Wing for a little under three 01:05.169 --> 01:07.391 years . And my civilian job at the same 01:07.391 --> 01:09.225 time , I got a promotion , a new 01:09.225 --> 01:11.169 management promotion . So life was 01:11.169 --> 01:13.280 looking good . And about three months 01:13.280 --> 01:15.360 after that , in March of 2021 I was 01:15.370 --> 01:17.370 informed , I needed to fill a short 01:17.370 --> 01:20.500 task deployment to Afghanistan . Um 01:21.190 --> 01:23.720 This was a little bit interesting to me 01:23.730 --> 01:25.786 since we were supposed to be leaving 01:25.786 --> 01:27.841 Afghanistan . So I wasn't quite sure 01:27.841 --> 01:30.063 why I was going . But uh nevertheless , 01:30.063 --> 01:32.341 I was , I was there to answer the call , 01:32.341 --> 01:32.110 you know , so starting at the beginning 01:32.120 --> 01:35.029 being in Bagram , um we knew that we 01:35.040 --> 01:37.207 were part of a part of history there . 01:37.207 --> 01:39.318 Um Not knowing what was going to take 01:39.318 --> 01:41.262 place after that closing down . Uh 01:41.262 --> 01:43.429 Craig Joint Theater hospital is in the 01:43.429 --> 01:45.429 medical community . That's , that's 01:45.429 --> 01:47.373 monumental . The hospital has been 01:47.373 --> 01:49.519 there for around 20 years uh named 01:49.529 --> 01:53.180 after a an army combat medic who was 01:53.349 --> 01:55.516 basically killed in the line of duty , 01:55.516 --> 01:57.550 gave his life to save others . And 01:57.559 --> 01:59.781 that's why the hospital was named after 01:59.781 --> 02:03.739 him . Moving on to Kabul , had no 02:03.750 --> 02:07.540 idea what that was going to entail and 02:07.900 --> 02:11.050 how big that was going to be on . You 02:11.059 --> 02:13.281 know , the world , the world platform . 02:13.449 --> 02:16.020 However , we did get security briefs 02:16.029 --> 02:17.973 every week where you could see the 02:17.973 --> 02:20.140 Taliban was closing in and starting to 02:20.140 --> 02:22.369 surround the capital city of Kabul , 02:22.380 --> 02:24.690 right where we were at a little nerve 02:24.699 --> 02:26.839 wracking . You see , you see them 02:26.850 --> 02:28.990 moving in and surrounding you and 02:29.000 --> 02:31.056 really at that point , your only way 02:31.056 --> 02:34.029 out is air support . But even that at 02:34.089 --> 02:36.850 the time uh was a little dangerous . 02:38.850 --> 02:41.320 So as we're doing all the all of the 02:41.330 --> 02:43.600 planning and we saw the Taliban closing 02:43.610 --> 02:45.943 in closer and closer to Kabul , we just , 02:45.943 --> 02:48.110 we I knew , you know , it was a matter 02:48.110 --> 02:50.332 of time before they were going to be at 02:50.332 --> 02:52.499 our doorstep . And that's exactly what 02:52.499 --> 02:54.610 happened . They took over the capital 02:54.610 --> 02:56.899 and once they did that local citizens 02:56.910 --> 02:59.179 started to panic and they came and 02:59.190 --> 03:01.419 rushed the , uh , where they rushed the 03:01.429 --> 03:03.596 airport in the airfield . Um , because 03:03.596 --> 03:05.873 that was their only way out , you know , 03:05.873 --> 03:05.649 they , they , they were scared , they 03:05.660 --> 03:07.771 were terrified . They , they wanted a 03:07.771 --> 03:10.449 way out . Um So that's what prompted 03:10.460 --> 03:14.330 everything . And shortly thereafter , 03:14.339 --> 03:17.309 we started the , the evacuations , um 03:22.580 --> 03:24.524 is about a week and a half later , 03:24.524 --> 03:28.389 after those tens of thousands of people 03:28.399 --> 03:31.139 started gathering at the gate that we 03:31.149 --> 03:33.220 were getting reports of possible 03:33.229 --> 03:36.410 attacks and suicide bombs . Um So we're 03:36.419 --> 03:38.530 taking things very , very seriously . 03:38.759 --> 03:42.699 Um And unfortunately , on Aug August , 03:43.029 --> 03:46.330 on August 26th at about 5:50 p.m. 03:46.509 --> 03:49.580 suicide bomb did go off and we received 03:49.589 --> 03:53.440 an influx of 70 plus patients uh during 03:53.449 --> 03:54.190 a mass cow , 03:58.199 --> 04:00.929 we prepared the best we could . Um So 04:00.940 --> 04:03.149 basically battle rattle , full battle 04:03.160 --> 04:06.410 rattle helmet , uh 24 7 . Um those 04:06.419 --> 04:10.169 sorts of things when the mass cow 04:10.179 --> 04:12.512 happened , I had just left the hospital , 04:12.512 --> 04:14.649 went back to my dorm room and I was 04:14.660 --> 04:16.882 there for 10 minutes and then we get an 04:16.882 --> 04:18.993 alert that there's uh a mass casualty 04:18.993 --> 04:21.104 event . Mass casualty can be anywhere 04:21.104 --> 04:23.160 from a handful of people up to , you 04:23.160 --> 04:26.049 know , um thousands or , you know , 04:26.059 --> 04:28.226 however you wanna categorize it . Um , 04:28.226 --> 04:30.170 so we went , weren't sure how many 04:30.170 --> 04:32.281 people we were , we were going to get 04:32.281 --> 04:34.559 because I did not hear the bomb go off . 04:34.559 --> 04:37.690 Um , but when we showed up just people 04:37.700 --> 04:39.922 upon people just , just started showing 04:39.922 --> 04:42.260 up in vehicles of opportunity , marines 04:42.269 --> 04:44.436 driving their , their friends who were 04:44.436 --> 04:46.325 injured , uh , driving them in on 04:46.325 --> 04:48.325 flatbed trucks , just whatever they 04:48.325 --> 04:50.491 could find . Um , the proximity of the 04:50.491 --> 04:52.602 bomb as the crow flies was only about 04:52.602 --> 04:54.491 three quarters of a mile from the 04:54.491 --> 04:56.602 hospital . Um , the route they had to 04:56.602 --> 04:58.825 drive was about 2.5 miles to get around 04:58.825 --> 05:01.440 the airfield to the hospital . Um , but 05:01.450 --> 05:04.410 when the casualties started showing up , 05:04.470 --> 05:07.850 um , I can only explain it as something 05:07.859 --> 05:09.915 that you see in a movie . You know , 05:09.915 --> 05:11.859 you kind of want , you watch these 05:11.859 --> 05:11.380 movies , you wonder if they're real , 05:11.390 --> 05:13.557 if that's how things really happen . A 05:13.557 --> 05:15.668 lot of it , I'm sure is far fetched . 05:15.668 --> 05:17.890 But for me , the only way I can explain 05:17.890 --> 05:20.168 it , it was , it was like a movie just , 05:20.168 --> 05:22.446 um , people upon people that were , um , 05:23.109 --> 05:25.109 you know , victims of the bomb just 05:25.109 --> 05:27.239 kept , kept showing up . Um , it was 05:27.250 --> 05:29.829 very , I don't wanna say chaotic 05:29.839 --> 05:31.672 because there was a lot going on 05:31.672 --> 05:33.895 because we all knew we were supposed to 05:33.895 --> 05:36.006 do . There was just , there was a lot 05:36.006 --> 05:37.895 going on at one time . One of the 05:37.895 --> 05:40.869 biggest reasons I like to share now is 05:40.880 --> 05:43.850 because there were 13 members who were 05:43.859 --> 05:46.149 killed in that suicide attack . Um , 05:46.679 --> 05:48.869 they cannot be forgotten . You know , 05:48.880 --> 05:52.269 us medical personnel who were , there 05:52.380 --> 05:54.790 were very close to that . We brought 05:54.799 --> 05:57.910 all 13 of them in . Um , I 05:57.920 --> 06:01.010 myself made sure that we had the 06:01.019 --> 06:04.040 caskets and the flags . Um , and then 06:04.049 --> 06:06.670 beyond that , we still forget that 06:06.679 --> 06:08.957 there were other us soldiers that were , 06:08.957 --> 06:11.235 that were injured , that they survived , 06:11.235 --> 06:10.920 but they injured , they were injured 06:10.929 --> 06:12.985 and they don't get talked about that 06:12.985 --> 06:15.207 much as well . Um , you know , they put 06:15.207 --> 06:17.262 their lives on the line . So a large 06:17.262 --> 06:19.485 part of this talking about it is making 06:19.485 --> 06:21.485 sure that they're not forgotten for 06:21.485 --> 06:23.707 sure . And then there's a large part of 06:23.707 --> 06:25.929 this that is just bringing awareness to 06:25.929 --> 06:27.929 individuals and letting people know 06:27.929 --> 06:30.096 that , you know , things like this can 06:30.096 --> 06:32.549 happen that are unpredictable and you 06:32.559 --> 06:34.829 just need to be prepared . Um , but at 06:34.839 --> 06:37.640 the same time , you might come across 06:37.649 --> 06:40.769 an accident on the freeway or God 06:40.779 --> 06:42.890 forbid an active shooter or something 06:42.890 --> 06:44.946 of that nature . You know , all your 06:44.946 --> 06:47.001 training you get here will be put to 06:47.001 --> 06:49.160 good use . Um , you know , any time 06:49.170 --> 06:52.079 anywhere . So just stick with it . It's , 06:52.089 --> 06:54.089 you know , anything you get on this 06:54.089 --> 06:56.089 side , uh , on the military side in 06:56.089 --> 06:58.256 uniform , um , you can use them on the 06:58.256 --> 06:58.519 civilian side . So .