WEBVTT 00:06.949 --> 00:09.060 Hello , everyone . Welcome to today's 00:09.060 --> 00:11.005 session of Chiefs Chat . I am your 00:11.005 --> 00:13.329 command , Chief Beth Ferrer . And today 00:13.340 --> 00:15.890 we have a very special guest , senior 00:15.899 --> 00:18.479 airman Cody Van Hoof , who is a 00:18.489 --> 00:21.139 defender . Cody , how are you ? And 00:21.149 --> 00:23.149 thank you for being here . Hi , I'm 00:23.149 --> 00:25.371 great . Thank you for having me . It is 00:25.371 --> 00:27.593 an absolute honor to be here . I'm very 00:27.593 --> 00:29.705 blessed . Honor is ours because uh as 00:29.705 --> 00:31.649 my boss likes to ask any airman he 00:31.649 --> 00:33.871 encounters General Hawkins likes to ask 00:33.871 --> 00:36.029 uh his airmen this . And so something 00:36.040 --> 00:38.262 that I also would like for you to share 00:38.262 --> 00:40.389 with our teammates is what is s in uh 00:40.400 --> 00:43.659 what is Cody Van Hoof's origin story ? 00:43.790 --> 00:47.380 So uh yeah , see Aaron uh Van Hoof 72nd 00:47.389 --> 00:49.490 security force squadron . I kind of 00:49.500 --> 00:52.259 come from like uh a small , small town 00:52.270 --> 00:54.492 outside of uh outside of Waco down down 00:54.492 --> 00:56.869 in Texas . Not too far . Yeah . No , 00:56.880 --> 00:59.240 not too far away from here . So just 00:59.349 --> 01:01.127 kind of living that country boy 01:01.127 --> 01:03.405 lifestyle . Still out here in Oklahoma . 01:03.405 --> 01:05.571 Uh This is my second base . First base 01:05.571 --> 01:07.516 is out at Curtly I or Kirtland Air 01:07.516 --> 01:07.125 Force Base out in Albuquerque , New 01:07.135 --> 01:09.246 Mexico . I spent four years out there 01:09.246 --> 01:11.315 and then came here and I've honestly 01:11.324 --> 01:13.657 loved every second . I've been out here , 01:13.657 --> 01:15.768 been out here about a year and a half 01:15.768 --> 01:15.675 now . That's awesome . I'm so glad to 01:15.684 --> 01:17.694 hear that . And thank you for being 01:17.705 --> 01:20.504 able to decide to join the Air Force at 01:20.955 --> 01:23.870 that uh us defenders . We , we go 01:23.879 --> 01:25.879 through but I love what I do . Um I 01:25.879 --> 01:27.879 wouldn't trade it for the world . I 01:27.879 --> 01:29.935 wouldn't trade it for the world with 01:29.935 --> 01:32.046 that said , knowing how much you love 01:32.046 --> 01:34.268 your job . I also learned that not just 01:34.268 --> 01:37.339 uh maybe shortly about a year ago that 01:37.349 --> 01:39.460 you were actually involved in a major 01:39.460 --> 01:42.260 vehicle accident outside the base . And 01:42.269 --> 01:44.800 so , um I would like for you to share 01:44.809 --> 01:46.920 with the teammates what happened with 01:46.920 --> 01:49.459 that because as I learned it was such a 01:49.470 --> 01:51.930 um heroic action that your leadership 01:51.940 --> 01:54.949 even said this is truly noteworthy and 01:54.959 --> 01:57.010 deserving of an Air and Space Force 01:57.019 --> 01:59.019 achievement medal . Yeah . So I was 01:59.019 --> 02:01.241 actually , it was just , I wanna say it 02:01.241 --> 02:03.297 was a Friday . Uh like like I said , 02:03.297 --> 02:05.463 it's been a year so trying to , trying 02:05.463 --> 02:07.463 to run back through everything . Uh 02:07.463 --> 02:09.519 Yeah , it was actually just a normal 02:09.519 --> 02:09.220 day going home , going home from the 02:09.229 --> 02:11.899 gym . Um I watched a uh a Tesla 02:11.910 --> 02:14.021 sideswipe . A Jeep decided they could 02:14.021 --> 02:15.919 pull out in front and without 02:15.929 --> 02:18.096 hesitation , I just kind of was like , 02:18.096 --> 02:20.040 well , looks like we're looks like 02:20.040 --> 02:22.040 we're skipping food . We're going , 02:22.040 --> 02:24.262 we're , we're just going straight there 02:24.262 --> 02:24.149 because as defenders , you know , we're , 02:24.199 --> 02:27.220 we're kind of trained to just react 02:27.229 --> 02:30.800 first and then do what we gotta do . 02:31.020 --> 02:33.919 Um Yes , ma'am . Yes , 100% . Uh the 02:33.929 --> 02:36.040 training we get is phenomenal . I , I 02:36.040 --> 02:38.096 love the training that we get and it 02:38.096 --> 02:40.262 definitely , definitely taught me that 02:40.262 --> 02:42.485 I just need to go . Um when I showed up 02:42.485 --> 02:44.429 on the scene , um all airbags were 02:44.429 --> 02:46.540 deployed on every single vehicle . Uh 02:46.540 --> 02:48.651 There was a family , the Tesla family 02:48.651 --> 02:50.818 was , there was a husband , wife , two 02:50.818 --> 02:53.040 kids in the back seat . The jeep driver 02:53.040 --> 02:55.207 was just a single female and she was , 02:55.207 --> 02:57.373 um , going in and out of consciousness 02:57.373 --> 02:59.596 and , you know , in the driver's seat . 02:59.596 --> 03:01.651 So I ran in my truck and I grabbed , 03:01.651 --> 03:03.873 grabbed my knife , sliced the airbag so 03:03.873 --> 03:05.985 I could kind of see what was going on 03:05.985 --> 03:05.059 if there was any broken Libs or 03:05.070 --> 03:07.380 anything like that . Um Went ahead and 03:07.869 --> 03:10.147 checked her , checked her like c spine , 03:10.147 --> 03:12.202 checked her neck , make sure nothing 03:12.202 --> 03:14.091 was like dislocated cause she was 03:14.091 --> 03:16.202 bleeding from her eye pretty , pretty 03:16.202 --> 03:18.313 heavy . So I ended up getting her out 03:18.313 --> 03:20.425 of the vehicle and laying her down on 03:20.425 --> 03:19.800 the concrete , ran to my , ran back to 03:19.809 --> 03:22.169 my truck and got trauma kit . And , um , 03:22.179 --> 03:24.346 it's kind of where I just performed my 03:24.346 --> 03:26.710 basic , my basic first aid just trying 03:26.720 --> 03:28.720 to control the bleeding . Uh , made 03:28.720 --> 03:30.887 sure I gloved up first though . That's 03:30.887 --> 03:33.220 definitely a number one priority before , 03:33.220 --> 03:35.276 before it comes to touching anything 03:35.276 --> 03:37.442 like that . And so I , I would presume 03:37.442 --> 03:39.669 that adrenaline was rushing in , but at 03:39.679 --> 03:41.901 the end of the day , you just said it , 03:41.901 --> 03:44.012 your training just kicked in . Yeah . 03:44.012 --> 03:46.068 So , no , definitely . I was , I was 03:46.068 --> 03:48.123 definitely a little shake , a little 03:48.123 --> 03:47.520 shake , a little shaky , trying to , 03:47.529 --> 03:49.529 trying to get my gloves on and just 03:49.529 --> 03:51.529 trying to , you know , control that 03:51.529 --> 03:53.529 bleeding . But again , the training 03:53.529 --> 03:55.585 that we get , it's , it's our , it's 03:55.585 --> 03:57.862 our just first reaction is just go get , 03:57.862 --> 04:00.029 go do what we have to do and then just 04:00.029 --> 04:02.029 kind of think and process after the 04:02.029 --> 04:04.839 fact . And , um , once , once the first 04:04.850 --> 04:06.961 responders showed up , I kind of gave 04:06.961 --> 04:09.128 him the rundown of , of the scene what 04:09.128 --> 04:11.294 was going on , uh , a handoff . Yeah , 04:11.294 --> 04:13.529 100% did a handoff . Um , everyone , 04:13.729 --> 04:15.951 everyone was ok at the end of the day , 04:15.951 --> 04:18.285 uh , the female and did get transported . 04:18.285 --> 04:20.285 Uh , the kids weren't injured , the 04:20.285 --> 04:22.451 other family members weren't injured . 04:22.451 --> 04:24.562 Um , so that was a , that was a great 04:24.562 --> 04:24.420 blessing knowing that , you know , the 04:24.429 --> 04:26.429 training that I had , I was able to 04:26.429 --> 04:28.519 potentially go out there and save a 04:28.529 --> 04:31.140 life . You know , the military , we're 04:31.149 --> 04:33.850 on duty on in or out of uniform . We're , 04:34.359 --> 04:36.581 it's what we signed up to do . It's a 3 04:36.581 --> 04:39.709 65 24 7 job and I , I'm very honored to , 04:39.720 --> 04:41.831 to wear this uniform and say I'm part 04:41.831 --> 04:43.998 of the air force that makes my heart . 04:43.998 --> 04:46.929 Absolutely . Um uh Just absolutely 04:46.940 --> 04:49.190 grateful for having teammates such as 04:49.200 --> 04:51.850 yourself who , when called upon , right ? 04:51.859 --> 04:55.109 Never shy away from call to action , 04:55.250 --> 04:58.119 right ? When needed upon you , you epi 04:58.359 --> 05:00.640 epitomized the core values that when 05:00.649 --> 05:02.871 it's the right thing to do , you did it 05:03.119 --> 05:05.709 and to rely on your training , right ? 05:05.959 --> 05:08.790 Uh to execute it . Uh Well , and 05:08.820 --> 05:11.649 essentially you saved lives , Cody . So , 05:11.850 --> 05:14.017 um I think your leadership did well in 05:14.017 --> 05:15.906 recognizing your efforts and your 05:15.906 --> 05:18.072 heroic actions in that regard . And so 05:18.149 --> 05:20.609 just really grateful uh to have airmen 05:20.619 --> 05:22.750 like you in our organization . And so 05:22.760 --> 05:24.704 keep leading well , I think that's 05:24.704 --> 05:26.927 wonderful to hear . Yeah , though , I , 05:26.927 --> 05:29.038 I appreciate that . And again , I , I 05:29.038 --> 05:31.093 love what I do , you know , security 05:31.093 --> 05:33.204 forces kind of we get , we get thrown 05:33.204 --> 05:33.029 around a little bit , but we , we can 05:33.040 --> 05:35.040 take some punches . We , we make it 05:35.040 --> 05:37.262 happen though . We , we definitely make 05:37.262 --> 05:39.373 it happen . Well , no , our defenders 05:39.373 --> 05:41.850 are truly uh critical part of our team . 05:42.415 --> 05:44.582 And so we need to do everything we can 05:44.582 --> 05:46.693 so that we train , we provide you the 05:46.693 --> 05:48.859 training , you , you need , you get to 05:48.859 --> 05:50.971 the uh level that you need to execute 05:50.971 --> 05:52.915 the mission . So uh you're a prime 05:52.915 --> 05:54.971 example of that , Erin Van Hoof . So 05:54.971 --> 05:57.193 thank you for joining us today . Yeah , 05:57.193 --> 05:59.137 it was , it was uh it was an honor 05:59.137 --> 05:58.994 being here again . Thank you for having 05:59.005 --> 06:00.838 me . I'm blessed , blessed to be 06:00.838 --> 06:02.894 sitting in this chair . Thank you so 06:02.894 --> 06:05.005 much team that is Erin Van Hoof with 06:05.015 --> 06:07.204 you today who just shared with you an 06:07.214 --> 06:09.799 amazing story . And so thank you so 06:09.809 --> 06:11.920 much for the support that you provide 06:11.920 --> 06:14.142 our defenders . They truly are great uh 06:14.142 --> 06:15.920 teammates in , in the Air Force 06:15.920 --> 06:18.142 Sustainment Center and the Air Force as 06:18.142 --> 06:20.198 a whole . So thank you for tuning in 06:20.198 --> 06:22.365 and please take care of each other and 06:22.365 --> 06:21.880 keep leading well .