The News Feed
Want to know more? Get up to date with the latest stories about service members and how all six branches make a positive impact every day.
Hear from young service members about their decisions to join, the friendships they’ve forged, the skills they’ve developed, and their opportunities to make an impact in the Military.
Staff Sergeant
Jose knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life after he witnessed the swift actions of a medical professional during an in-flight emergency. As a Bioenvironmental Engineering Technician in the Air Force Reserve, he is able to bring his valuable skillset to the military while pursuing his degree in nursing.
"I thought that [The Reserve] was going to be a good opportunity to round out my education, so I went with it. I went back to the recruiter and said, ‘I’m all in."
During a training exercise, José and his fellow service members wear protective "Level A" suits and test a potentially hazardous substance.
Length 1:10 View TranscriptJosé Gutierrez: One of the training exercises that we did today was an unidentified substance training exercise.
Speaker 1: All right, so a quick brief here. I know you guys have heard about it already, but we do have a white powder incident in this building over here. So there's two entries we're gonna enter from the back of the building, come in. There's a white powder in an office. Gutierrez and Rizzo will be going in to get a sample, run the True Defender on it. We'll get the biocapture out there and get a sample on that, too. All right?
José Gutierrez: One of the things that we use to protect ourselves when dealing with unknown substances includes "Level A" suits. "Level A" suits are these blue plastic suits that you encapsulate yourself in. Within that suit, you're going to be wearing what's called a CBA, which is essentially an oxygen tank and a mask. So therefore you can be totally enclosed in a protective suit while still being able to breathe. It's important that these exercises are as real-life as possible to ensure that we're all consistently properly trained in how to do these procedures. I think everyone is in it together to help one another, to help their communities. Everybody wants to make America a safer place.
Military Exercise: Drill Training Exercise