Honoring accomplishment and courage: profiles of the 2023 Service Members of the Year

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Welcome to Defense News Weekly, I'm Andrea Scott

In a special episode this week, we take time to look back at the Military Times 2023 Service

Members of the Year. Honoring the most standout members of the military from each of the five branches, we

highlight military acts of heroism, selflessness, and bravery. Helps at the Ronald Reagan International Building in Washington, D.C., the 2023 gala saw luminaries

from government and the military gather to commend top performers from the Army, Air Force

Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force. Candidates are nominated by peers and brought to the nation's capital for the annual event

And each year, we like to highlight their stories. Up first this year, 2023's Guardian of the Year, Captain Victoria Garcia, is a Mexican-American with a complicated job

She was tasked with establishing a space electromagnetic warfare hub in Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a new feat for the fledgling Space Force

Long hours, long days, and complicated detailed planning went into the mission and fell heavily on Garcia's shoulders

Here's more of her story. I chose to endless because it was the American dream

I know that sounds cliche, but it was. I emigrated here from Mexico with my mom and my two sisters

For me, it was an opportunity to go see the world. My name is Victoria Garcia

I'm a captain in the United States Space Force. Space Force is the newest military branch

charged with organizing and training and equipping our guardians to head all over the world and support space global operations

Space Force defends against the threat to the space domain. It's very contested, and we protect and defend against the ability to maneuver that domain

We work with all the other branches very closely, specifically in a combat zone

If the Army or the Marines are headed out the door for a specific mission, and they need to make sure that they have secure comms to speak to each other

or they need some type of GPS navigation to make sure they're headed to the right direction

Those are space assets that they're relying on, and they need us. They need the guardians to make sure those assets are there for them

All the planning to get those teams out the door is something I oversee

We talk to those crews on a consistent basis to make sure they have everything they need to execute the mission and support all those joint partners that they work with

My job is specifically focused on overseeing Space Delta III. Our mission area is the Space Electromagnetic Warfare Arena

With tensions high on the ground between Russia, the U.S. and NATO, there's some concern that the

conflict could one day spill over into space. In about February of 2022, the orders we received

were from the president of the United States. They were filtered down through the Secretary

of Defense and given to us by the United States Space Command to establish the space electromagnetic

warfare flight. It was the first in history that U.S. Space Com was establishing and vetting down

in a location we had never been before. We used that time to build all of our logistics plans

We were able to offload all of the equipment, transport that over to a hardened aircraft shelter

and then turn it into the Space Force's operation center. At that point, we started our overwatch missions

We were able to posture our guardians and airmen to watch over the electromagnetic spectrum

and be called upon when needed to support a crisis in any part of that country

My team, they're the ones who exuded courage. They're the ones that persevered and worked so tirelessly just to create that flight there in Europe

That mission was successful because of my team's efforts. They showed that they can operate quickly

They showed that they could work tirelessly. I hope when people look at me, they see a picture of perseverance

They see a picture of someone who's overcome. I'm so happy. I'm living the American dream

There's no end in sight for me. I enjoy what I do. I'm motivated by the things that we support and the domain that we protect

Navy search and rescue medic Anthony Anglikowski says there are no one-man rescue operations

But this hospital corpsman's second class sure took a strong swing at it

after two hikers had an accident in Washington State. Trapped in an icy crevice and with nightfall closing in, their lives were in danger

But Anglokowski lowered himself to extract them. Here's the story in his own words

A lot of what we do can be hard. You just learn to rely on your friends, rely on your crewmates

talk about things, and get through it and on to the next one

My name is Anthony Anglokowski. I'm a hospital corpsman, second class, United States Navy

I am a search and rescue corpsman. To me, being a corpsman means taking care of the people around you

Not only are you responsible for the well-being of patients who you may or may not know

any emergency that happens, but the well-being of also your shipmates, the people you work with

People are looking for you to help. People are relieved to see you. You get to make a substantial and objective impact on somebody's life

There's a whole hierarchy of how things get to us and how we end up getting activated

If the ground mountain rescue teams cannot do it and pretty much if everybody else turns it down

it comes to us. When the altitude's too high or the weather's too rough

or the mountains are too close, people call the Navy. So May 23rd 2021 it was a Sunday It was the third day of our duty rotation We were launched for two hikers who had fallen about 1 feet down a slope

Rumor had it that at least one, if not both, had ended up in a crevasse somewhere down the slope

This one sounded very critical. The initial impression for somebody falling into a crevasse is that chances are not good that this ends well

But that doesn't mean we don't go and give it our all and take our shot at doing what we can

We did some research on the area. The weather was not promising, but we figured we'd go out there and give it a shot and see what we could do

The ground that we touched down on was about a 45 degree slope of snow and ice

We ended up using ice axes and the litters we were carrying as anchors so that we could traverse about 50 yards across the slope to where the subjects were

They report that the second victim went down the hole. That's about 10 yards off to my side

It's about, I don't know, two feet by two feet, and there's a waterfall running through it from the snow melt

So it's a pretty grisly-looking scene. If there was anything we could do about it

I had no intentions of leaving her on the mountain that night. The ground rescue guy was very, very cold from the waterfall

I swapped places with him, and I got back in on the second rope. I was able to get myself under the ledge behind her

and use my body to force her out over the ledge so that they could then pull her up

They got her to a ledge in a safe space and then came back and recovered me. Not every rescue has the exact outcome

that you want it to have. Not everybody survives every injury and not every situation allows you to get

all the people that you want to get. But we do what we can. This wasn't a fantastic outcome to this mission

but we were able to pick up the other injured subject, get some good Samaritans off the mountain

and utilize the ground rescue team both in and out to make sure that we did everything we could

I hope that when I'm done here with this tour, people maintain a standard for medicine

I always encourage people to want more, to do better, to train harder, and I hope that that standard and that expectation exists

long after I'm gone. I try to help wherever I can and whenever I can

It's the same thing I tell my son every day when I leave for work. Be good and do good

And I figure as long as I go out there and I continue trying to be good and trying to do good, I'm on the path that I want to be on

When we come back, more stories of bravery and sacrifice from our 2023 service members of the year

Don't go away. Thank you

Thank you

Welcome back. Lieutenant Chelsea Sheehy has a lot on her hands and under her responsibility

As the commander of a Coast Guard vessel, she's got the safety and well-being of both her crew and the public to think of at all times

When a boat capsized in her area in 2022, Sheehy had to spring into action

And her calm under pressure that day helped save lives of more than a dozen people

Here's more about the 2023 Coast Guardsmen of the Year. What we do in the Coast Guard directly impacts homeland security

And I know that each job that I've had, every watch I've stood, you know, ships I've driven

that what we're doing is protecting our nation. And there is a deep sense of patriotism and pride in that

My name is Chelsea Sheehy. I'm a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard, and I'm the commanding officer of Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton

I grew up in North Brunswick, New Jersey. We were in a family that were boaters

We didn't grow up on the water. My brother went to the Coast Guard Academy while I was in high school

I can remember taking him to his first day, dropping him off for reporting in, and that's what garnered my interest

So I went for a freshman for a day and just having a feeling that this is where I belong

and this would be a good fit for me. The Coast Guard has instilled the traits of leadership

I get to be in command of ships, get to have leadership roles and opportunities that perhaps

my grandmother never had, but I've been able to have. As commanding officer, I oversee entire safe navigation of the ship, all the missions on

board that we conduct, and I'm responsible for everyone's safety. The Coast Guard has 11

statutory missions, but they're all centered around saving lives. We are, first and foremost

always a life-saving service. Back in the spring of 2022, we responded to a vessel that was

unseaworthy, and it appeared to be a migrant vessel at sea. We noticed that the vessel was

actually capsized and that they were holding onto it, sitting on top of the vessel that was

capsized and sinking. They were waving their arms. They were in distress. They were visibly

concerned and worried. They didn't have any food. They didn't have any water. They didn't have any

flotation devices or safety equipment. And once we got alongside and we started taking them off

the capsized vessel, there was moments of relief. And we rescued upwards of 15 people. And if we

If we didn't see them waving their arms, if we weren there then within 24 48 hours a more dire situation would have resulted And this is just one of over 60 cases that I responded to in the last year Another aspect of the Coast Guard is maritime law enforcement

fisheries enforcement, port security, and drug interdictions. One of the most challenging

is drug interdictions. In March of 2022, while on a routine patrol, we detected a vessel moving at

a high rate of speed in a known drug trafficking area. We launched our small boat

They ran about 40 knots to this vessel. In that moment, there was an adrenaline rush

There were tense moments, too, just because you don't know what kind of case you're going to run into

What we do at sea is inherently dangerous, and especially stopping a vessel with suspected drug traffickers on board

You don't know what you'll be faced with. We stopped the vessel, conducted a boarding, and determined that there were 609 kilograms of cocaine

which equates to about $15.5 million of drugs that was prevented from going to the United States

I'd like to serve until the Coast Guard no longer wants me to serve

I still feel really deep feelings of fulfillment. I'm proud of what we do, and I'm proud to be part of the Coast Guard

It's given me more than just a job. I received an education, training, some of my closest friends and even my family, some of the people I love the most, I've gained from the Coast Guard

There are only a handful of female commanding officers of Cutters and the Coast Guard, so it's important to me to lead by example

When we return, a look at more stories of bravery and service in our special episode

Stay with us. Thank you

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, masses of U.S. forces were called upon to transit

NATO-allied countries near the conflict zone. How do you get a cavalry regiment and all their

equipment deployed to a forward location in a matter of weeks? Our 2023 Soldier of the Year

Master Sergeant Justin Bolin, has a thing or two to say about it. Here's his story

Good evening, and we're coming on the air at this hour with breaking news. Vladimir Putin now rattling his nuclear saber

Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear warheads in the world. There are Ukrainians wanting to stay and protect their homeland

They are not going to go down without a fight. I'm Justin Bolton. I'm a Master Sergeant of the United States Army

I currently work as the Operations Sergeant Major for the 2nd Cavalier Regiment and 2nd Squadron

What it means to me to serve is truly to kind of put your own selfish wants or your own personal needs aside

and think of other people first. There's a sense of pride in that. So in my opinion, you're kind of part of an elite group of American citizens

who are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep their nation safe and secure

So currently my job as a 19 Zulu Senior Armor Sergeant is I oversee operations for multiple different organizations

I started off as a 19 Delta Cavalry Scout, which is reconnaissance and intelligence gathering for the Army

I was a part of numerous amount of exercises deploying soldiers all across the European continent

in support of training missions or other type of exercises to help foreign national partners

training for their upcoming missions or upcoming deployments to other countries. Being a scout has enabled me to kind of see things differently

By paying attention to detail and focusing on the smaller things that most people would miss

allows me to help other soldiers in the same sense of allowing them to see projects they may have

missed or mistakes they may have made or prevent them from making a mistake in the future

In February 24th of 2022, due to Russian aggression when they invaded Ukraine, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment was notified and requested to push forward to the eastern flank of multiple countries to help support our NATO alliance and additional countries who provided support and aid to the Ukrainian efforts

My responsibility was ensuring that our people got to the right place at the right time with the right things

I assisted in deploying the regiment in a very short time frame, a matter of weeks

deploying over 86 people to one country and over 300 to 400 people in multiple different countries

To help aid the Ukrainians in a sense of training is extremely important for me because we have a vast knowledge of tactics, techniques, procedures that can help increase their survivability

and help increase their knowledge and allow them also to pass those lessons forward

The Ukrainian soldiers that we've trained have a wealth of knowledge. They are your farmer. They are your mechanic

They are your baker who are losing their home every single day

or getting closer to losing their home so they have a purpose. And to help support their purpose and expand their purpose

was extremely meaningful to me personally. Every soldier who puts on a uniform is a human first, is a person first

is a mother, a father, a son, a brother, somebody else. They are people who are willing to fight for what they believe in

fight for what's right. For me, what's worth fighting for is a future. Whatever that future may be

we're only here for a short amount of time, so you fight for your future and make sure that you make the world a little bit better

for the next person coming up. And stick around when we return a harrowing story from the last days in Afghanistan

Thank you

Welcome back to Defense News Weekly and our 2023 Special Service Members of the Year episode

I'm Andrea Scott. A critical care air transport nurse is among one of the most highly challenging jobs in the Air Force

Sent aloft in a plane with a bare-bones team to care for injured and sick patients

they have to work in very difficult conditions to get people to safety

For Major Katie Lunning, the attack at the Kabul airport represented an incredibly tough mission

Learn about how she responded and why she's our Airman of the Year

As a nurse, you can lead, you can teach. I try to tell people all the time just the message of being ready and understanding what your job is and being prepared for anything to change

My name is Major Katie Lunning, and I'm a critical care air transport registered nurse at the 133rd Air National Guard out of Minnesota

I'm part of the critical care air transport team, or CCAT as we call it. It's a three-person specialized team of a doctor, RN, and RT, and we provide ICU-level care to fly the most critically injured or ill to the next higher echelon of care

The Minneapolis VA is where I started, taking care of intensive care unit patients

They gave me the skills that I needed to be a CCAT nurse. There's been a lot of challenges over the years that I've been in the Guard, but definitely the most challenging that I've had was being sent to Afghanistan

On August 26th, I had just returned from a 20-hour mission where I had taken care of intensive care unit patients

and my phone rang, and it was my doc, and he was calling saying there's been an explosion at the airport in Kabul

and we need to go back right this second. We were under the assumption it was a suicide bomber

The crowds had scattered, and it was replaced by Taliban fighters. They were shooting rockets at the airplanes much more frequently at this time when we were trying to land

This was the first time I'd ever been in this severe of a situation. We had 17 Marines, aeromedical evacuation patients who had various injuries from broken limbs to burns

And then we had five critical care patients that our CCAT team were taking care of

Some of the hardest emotionally for me on that flight was the Marines

My patients who were on life support and on the ventilator, their buddies would actually help me with them

It was hard. Watching those Marines interact, they were there for each other

So the one was very much awake and the other one was on the ventilator. And the one that was awake would talk to his friend and keep him calm

He put a blanket on him at one point. You knew how much it hurt him to watch his friend be that injured

The other Marine had chest tubes coming out of everywhere. They had opened his chest at one point to save his life

He was awake and I took his hand and I told him, I said, you know, we're flying to Germany, you're safe now, I'm going to give you medicine to make you

go to sleep. And he whispered, thank you, over his breathing tube. And it just floored me, like

you're thanking me? Look at what you just did for all of us. The way that the Marines were looking

at us was with so much hope and trust, and I didn't want to fail them. So I wanted them to know

that we were there caring for them and that they were in safe hands and we were going to get them

to safety. My daughter was eight years old at that time. She's my why. She's the reason that I do this

She's the reason that I serve. I want to be a good example to her. And part of it is that I know that

everybody has a why. My teammates have a why. They have children that they want to go home to as well

And I knew that the Marines and service members and the people that we were flying out, they all

have a why too. Everybody has somebody. My job is to get them back to their why. Every patient arrived

alive and safe. The small part that we can play to getting them home for safety is everything

I hope the legacy I leave behind is awareness of what nurses can do

I'm proud to be an example of nursing and awareness for what the National Guard can do

that it's not just active duty, it's not reserves, but it's a whole team effort. I hope to keep serving as long as they'll have me

I still absolutely love it. I enjoy it. I feel like I'm not ready yet and that there's other challenges ahead of me

so I hope to stay around for a while longer. And that's all we have time for in this episode

Thanks for watching and we'll catch you next week. We'll be right back