TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --
Chief Master Sergeant Beth Ferrer, command chief Air Force Sustainment Center, interviews Senior Airman Codey Van Hoof, installation defense patrolman, 72d Security Forces Squadron. Ferrer and Van Hoof discuss his role witnessing and reacting to a vehicle collision and how his quick response and training resulted in receiving an Air and Space Achievement Medal.
Transcript
Ferrer: Hello everyone. Welcome to today's session of Chief's Chat. I am your command Chief Beth Ferrer, and today we have a very special guest, Senior Airman Codey Van Hoof, who is a defender. Codey, how are you? And thank you for being here.
Van Hoof: Hi, I'm great. Thank you for having me. It is an absolute honor to be here. I'm very blessed.
Ferrer: Honor is ours because as my boss likes to ask any Airman he encounters, General Hawkins likes to ask his airman this. And so something that I also would like for you to share with our teammates is what is Codey Van Hoof's origin story?
Van Hoof: So again, I'm Senior Airman Codey Van Hoof, 72nd Security Force Squadron. I kind of come from like a small, small town outside of outside of Waco down in Texas.
Ferrer: Oh, Okay. Not to far.
Van Hoof: Yeah, not to far away from here. So just kind of living that country boy lifestyle still out here in Oklahoma. It's my second base. First base is out at Kirtland or Kirtland Air Force Base out in Albuquerque, NM. I spent four years out there and then came here and I've honestly loved every second I've been out here. Been out here about a year and a half now.
Ferrer: That's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that and thank you for being able to decide to join the Air Force. Oh yeah, a defender at that.
Van Hoof: Us defenders, we go through it, but I love what I do. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Wouldn't trade it for the world.
Ferrer: With that said, knowing how much you love your job, I also learned that not just maybe shortly about a year ago, that you were actually involved in a major vehicle accident outside the base. And so I would like for you to share with the teammates what happened with that because as I learned, it was such a heroic action that your leadership even said this is truly noteworthy and deserving of an Air and Space Force Achievement Medal.
Van Hoof: Yeah. So I was actually, it was just, I want to say it was a Friday. Like, like I said, it's been a year so I’m trying to run back through everything. It was actually just a normal day going home, going home from the gym. I watched a Tesla side swipe a Jeep that decided they could pull out in front and without hesitation, I just kind of was like, well, looks like we're looks like we're skipping food. We're going, we're, we're just going straight there because as defenders, you know, we're, we're kind of trained to just react first and then do what we got to do.
Ferrer: Your training?
Van Hoof: Yes, ma'am, yes, 100%. The training we get is phenomenal. I, I love the training that we get and it definitely, definitely taught me that I just need to go. When I showed up on the scene, all airbags were deployed on every single vehicle. There was a family, the Tesla family was, there was a husband, wife, two kids in the back seat. The Jeep driver was just a single female and she was going in and out of consciousness in the, you know, in the driver's seat. So I ran in my truck and I grabbed my knife, slice the airbag so I could kind of see what was going on if there was any broken limbs or anything like that. Went ahead and checked her, checked her like C spine, checked her neck, make sure nothing was like dislocated because she was bleeding from her eye pretty heavy. So I ended up getting her out of the vehicle and laying her down on the concrete. I ran back to my truck and got the trauma kit and it's kind of where I just performed my basic, my basic first aid, just trying to control the bleeding. Made sure I gloved up first though. That's definitely a number one priority before it comes to touching anything like that.
Ferrer: So I would presume that adrenaline was rushing in, but at the end of the day, you just said it, your training just kicked in.
Van Hoof: Yeah. So no, definitely I was, I was definitely a little shake, a little shake, a little shaky trying to trying to get my gloves on and just trying to, you know, control that bleeding. But again, the training that we get, it's, it's our, it's our just first reaction is just go, get, go do what we have to do.
And then just kind of think and process after the fact. And once first responders showed up, I kind of gave them the rundown of the scene, what was going on.
Ferrer: Did a handoff.
Van Hoof: Yeah, 100% did a handoff. Everyone, everyone was OK at the end of the day. The female did get transported. The kids weren't injured, the other family members weren't injured. So that was a, that was a great blessing knowing that, you know, the training that I had, I was able to potentially go out there and save a life. You know, the military were on duty on in or out of uniform where it's what we signed up to do. It's a 365/24/7 job. And I, I'm very honored to, to wear this uniform and say I'm part of the Air Force.
Ferrer: That makes my heart absolutely, just absolutely, grateful for having teammates such as yourself, who when called upon, right, never shy away from call to action right when needed upon your, your epitomized our core values that when it's the right thing to do, you did it and to rely on your training, right, to execute it well. Essentially you saved lives, Codey. I think your leadership did well in recognizing your efforts and your heroic actions in that regard. I’m just really grateful to have Airmen like you in our organization and so keep leading. Well, I think that's wonderful to hear.
Van Hoof: Yeah, I appreciate that. Again, I love what I do, you know, security forces kind of we get, we get thrown around a little bit, but we can take some punches. We make it happen though. We definitely make it happen.
Ferrer: Well, our defenders are truly critical part of our team. And so we need to do everything we can so that we train, we provide you the training, you know, you need, you get to the level that you need to execute the mission. So your prime example of that, Erin Van Hoof. Thank you for joining us today.
Van Hoof: Yeah, it was, it was an honor being here again. Thank you for having me. I'm blessed and blessed to be sitting in this chair.
Ferrer: Thank you so much, team. That is Codey Van Hoof with you today who just shared with you an amazing story. And so thank you so much for the support that you provide our defenders. They truly are great teammates in the Air Force Sustainment Center, in the Air Force as a whole. So thank you for tuning in and please take care of each other and keep leading well.