Photo By Lt. Col. Troy Frey | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii- U.S. Army Master Sgt. Shaunte L. Hypolite...... read more read more
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Soldiers with the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, U.S. Army Pacific, participated in Spike TV’s “Rock the Troops”, a music and entertainment event, headlined by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, flight line.
The “Rock the Troops” will be airing, today, Dec. 13, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. Hawaii Time/ 6:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Spike TV, and will include previously unseen footage from the event.
“When I first heard about the event, I thought it was so nice for Dwayne Johnson to be part of something so awesome for us service members, and I wanted to be there,” said Sgt. Geysi M. Johnson, a property book noncommissioned officer with the 94th AAMDC and a native of Lawrence, Mass.
“I expected to see or hear the entertainers perform, do what they had to do and leave, which wasn’t the case at all,” she continued. “They involved themselves with the service members, each giving a very personal touch to the overall event.”
The event featured appearances by Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Nick Jonas, Flo Rida and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but also included others and incorporated several surprises.
“I enjoyed that the performances appealed to many different age groups and cultural demographics,” added Johnson. “I was so surprised that Prince Royce performed and I loved it.”
“It truly was a great event,” said Master Sgt. Shaunte L. Hypolite, the chief paralegal noncommissioned officer with the 94th AAMDC from Galveston, Texas. “Not only was it good to see the various performances, but I especially enjoyed when Kevin Hart officiated the wedding of two service members and when a young service member who will be deploying soon was surprised on stage with a visit from him mom.”
Sea Dragons enjoyed the event not only as attendees but also as honored guests asked to reflect on their experience serving in the Armed Services.
Hypolite was one of nine female service members from within the Armed Forces serving here on Oahu that were interviewed by Dwayne Johnson to be included as part of the program when televised.
Hypolite has 19 years of active duty service in the U.S. Army and has deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
“For someone to have me on their radar to represent the [94th AAMDC] and be a voice for female service members, was truly an honor,” Hypolite shared.
“We were asked why we chose to serve, what were some of our experiences and challenges while serving,” she explained.
“They wanted to gain the female service members perspective on serving in the military, especially with the major changes the [Department of Defense] has enacted with the opening of all jobs to members,” continued Hypolite.
The females selected were representatives from all branches, were officers, enlisted, career and first-term members said Hypolite.
“I would highly recommend for any Soldier or service member to participate in events such as this one,” she added. “Anytime we can get our story out there, to promote our profession to the masses is a great thing. It is surprising that some still think of us as just warfighters. While that is part of what we do, as members, we do so much more on a daily basis. We face the same issues as our civilian counterparts.”
Though many hopeful attendees were unable to view the live performances due to space limitations, the overall energy for “Rock the Troops” was highly positive.
“It was a great moral building experience and an awesome opportunity to view great entertainers at one location,” said Johnson. “I had no issues standing in line for a few hours for the opportunity to get to see Nick Jonas and Kevin Hart. I can’t thank Spike TV, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and all the entertainers enough for this absolutely amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 12.13.2016 20:52 |
| Story ID: | 217612 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HI, US |
| Hometown: | LAWRENCE, MA, US |
| Web Views: | 126 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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