Although "hooah" is an Army term not used by the Air Force, in the case of Tech. Sgt. Darrell DeMotta, an Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controller I had the pleasure to meet this week at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M., the term definitely applies.
JTACs are Air Force grunts who call in and direct air strikes and medevac missions, serving with Army infantry units or Special Forces teams. DeMotta has done three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, hauling around a load that would make any infantryman really grunt: three radios, laser gizmos, a computer, body armor, canteens, weapons, and more.
Hero is an overused word, but it definitely applies to DeMotta. During a 2007 tour in Iraq, he was credited with saving the life of an Iraqi policeman shot by a sniper and dragged a soldier out of a house to safety after three of his team members were shot during a raid of a suspected terrorist cell. He then controlled helicopters and fighters while setting up a medical evacuation of injured soldiers.
His boss at the time, Msgt. Timothy Crusing, part of the 2nd Air Support Operations squadron, said DeMotta soldiered on despite the danger during that incident. "He never stopped controlling aircraft during the ordeal, despite the ground threat," he said. "It was an extraordinary act under the circumstances."
Last month DeMotta, a survivor of six attacks by improvised bombs, received a Bronze Star for exemplary service during his 2007 tour in Iraq while he was deployed at Kirtland, where at the moment he runs JTAC missions in cyberspace.
The first JTAC assigned to the Distributed Mission Operations Center, which is run by the 705th Combat Training Wing at Kirtland, DeMotta now deals with digits like a natural computer geek, helping to spearhead development and use of simulators that replicate the JTAC mission.
During a tour of the simulation facility, DeMotta displayed in-depth knowledge of not only the JTAC systems, but also all the aircraft systems, describing each in simple and understandable terms.
DeMotta is the kind of warrior that the public unfortunately rarely meets. And I consider it a privilege to have spent time in his company.
COMMENTS
As a society, we have things screwed up. We pay movie stars, professional athletics and singers millions of dollars.
Yet we pay our teachers, policemen, firemen and military, such as Tech Sgt DeMotta, very little. Yet, these same great people continue to serve us with little or no complaint about their compensation. I hope one day we remedy this.
Bob Ramos 06/15/09 08:09 am ET
As a VA employee I often find myself surrounded by today's warriors who ask for nothing except the opportunity to serve.
This kind of warrior is not new nor are these traits. They are indicative of the courage, comittment, dedication, and humility of the millions of warriors who served our nation in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and in all of the Gulf conflicts to date to include Afghanistan.
I once met a Navy pilot who's job it was to fly his torpedo plane as fast as he could, 6 feet off the water, at the cliff's on the coast of Japan where the enemy had placed their heavy guns sheltered by the overhang of the cliffs. When he reached a certain point he would release the torpedo so that it skipped across the water, up the beach, then into the gun emplacements all while making sure that he made a climbout with his plane to avoid a certain headlong crash into the cliffs (if he failed) and while flying straight into the AA fire trying to stop him from skippig his torpedo across the beach.
Just thinking of the courage and nerves it took to do this job runs shivers up my spine and while you'd think this man was a hardened warrior you'd be wrong. To meet him you would never suspect what his job was or that on his 74th mission that he didn't make the return flight to his carrier and was captured and held as a POW for a year and a half until liberated after the surrender of Japan.
My point is simple. We are surrounded by these folks and we should never forget that the very fabric of our country is the result of their actions and heroism. They all deserve our thanks and admiration and we should all be humbled to share a stage, room, or sidewalk with each and every one of them.
Have you thanked a Vet today?
JF 06/12/09 10:44 am ET
"Hoorah" is right. Thanks for sharing this story.
Proud American 06/12/09 08:47 am ET