Photo By Maj. Travis Mueller | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mike Moy speaks to Soldiers with Detachment 1, Bravo Company,...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. -- During the flooding in Columbia County, Pennsylvania on Aug. 13, 2018 the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade’s oldest Soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Mike Moy, personally rescued eight people and three pets on the hoist.
Five days later, Moy was promoted from staff sergeant to sergeant first class. During his promotion ceremony he was quizzed on events that occurred during 1976, the year he enlisted in the U.S. Army.
“Who was the Secretary of Defense in 1976?”
Donald Rumsfeld was one of the options.
“It’s not Donald Rumsfeld,” said one of the younger Soldiers in attendance. “He was [President George W.] Bush’s Secretary of Defense.”
For most of the Soldiers with Detachment 1, Bravo Company, 1-224 Aviation Regiment, Rumsfeld was the Secretary of Defense while they watched the beginning of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq unfold on TV in their grade-school classrooms. But for Moy, he actually participated in the events his now-fellow Soldiers once watched on TV as kids.
And Rumsfeld was, in fact, his Secretary of Defense twice.
The 28th ECAB traces its lineage to April 1, 1959, two years after Sgt. 1st Class Moy was born. Moy’s 42 years in the military cover over 17% of U.S. history.
“I’ve always wanted to serve,” said Moy, shortly after his promotion ceremony. “But I just joined because I wanted some extra money, just like everybody else, wanted to get an education but it was a square peg in a square hole. I liked it.”
Moy has a rare combination of experience and youthfulness. While many Soldiers strive to reach the retirement-eligible service time of 20 years, Moy has served twice that and then some. He has flown for all but two of those years as a crew chief.
“I feel great, I’ve been blessed. I can still run, I can still do push-ups, I can still do sit-ups,” said Moy. “If you want to do this job you have to keep up with everyone else. Age is only a defining factor if you don’t get off the porch. If you want to run with the dogs you do have to get off the porch and put a little effort in. As you get older it does get a little harder, but you just have to make a conscience effort to do it.”
His most memorable experiences in the military are his three deployments to Iraq.
“That’s where everything comes together and your training has real-world application,” said Moy. “You always hear ‘train as you fight’ and a lot of Guardsmen think ‘well what’s the chance of me actually getting deployed?’ It’s actually quite high.”
Over those three deployments, the mission was always the same and success was defined identically every single time.
“It’s when every Soldier knocks on their front door and walks in carrying their duffel bag,” said Moy. “That makes a deployment successful.”
Moy is a product of a loving family. His mother was widowed when he was two years old but, even though she was small in stature, he and his siblings performed well in school because they feared disappointing her. That performance has led to his brothers becoming military veterans themselves and business owners. His older sister still works, not out of necessity but desire.
“That family support is very important,” said Moy. “I’m married with three children and I don’t think I would’ve been able to hang it out as long as I have without my family stepping up to the plate.”
Though his deployments are his most memorable experiences, he admits that they took a toll on his family.
“A lot of guys have children who are one, two or three [years old] and they say it’s hard on a deployment,” said Moy. “And that’s true, but it’s even harder when your children are at an age where they watch, read and listen to the news. They know what’s going on over there. So that strong family support is very important. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the help of my wife.”
He says he has only been scared two times in his life, and once was during a hoist mission. During hoist missions he is strapped on to a hoist and lowered by a wire, not much thicker than a pen, from a helicopter hovering about 175 to 200 feet off the ground. Not only is it intimidating being lowered from that height but he must rely on steady helicopter hovering from the pilots. He describes what the pilots have to do in those missions as riding a unicycle with spinning plates on two sticks, except at 200 feet on a rope.
Even though hoist missions require a lot of expertise and courage, rescuing three children during the flooding in Columbia County on Aug. 13 helped him put things in perspective.
“I came in that morning just to show people the capabilities of the hoist,” said Moy. “We finished that and were on the flood relief mission an hour later. We got quick turn on fuel, brief for the mission, hopped in the aircraft, got the equipment that we needed and launched.”
Over the next couple days, Soldiers with the 28th ECAB worked with their counterparts in the Pennsylvania Helicopter Aquatic Rescue Team, a joint partnership between the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, to carry out hoist rescues of 19 people, two dogs and a cat.
Though the rescues and deployments have brought Moy a sense of accomplishment, his service has a deeper meaning for him. When he is not in uniform, he enjoys going to Europe as a World War II history guide and giving tours of Luxembourg, where the 28th Infantry Division fought.
“It really brings home our legacy when you see foxholes that 28th ID Soldiers dug in 1944 and 1945 when they were fighting the Germans,” said Moy. “You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been. So as a Soldier it’s pretty important to know what your legacy is, because 40 years from now, you’re going to be that legacy Soldier.”
That combination of experience and youthfulness is what helps his fellow Soldiers put things in perspective themselves. Over 42 years, Moy has seen many changes.
“It’s just a different generation now,” said Moy. “Technology has changed and if you don’t change with technology, because it’s here to stay, you’re going to be lost. But all this technology is great until it breaks. It’s nice to know how to use a [GPS] when doing land navigation, but know the basics because you still should know how to whip out that compass and a map and orient yourself.”
Moy also understands first-hand that the more things change, especially in the Army, the more they are the same. He knows that one day he will no longer serve in the military and some other Soldier will take his place as the longest-serving in the Pennsylvania National Guard. That is why he emphasizes to his counterparts and to himself the importance of training the next generation.
“Being a Soldier, you are replaceable,” said Moy. “Imagine you put your finger in a glass of water. As soon as you remove that finger, that hole is filled. So you’re replaceable, so train your replacement. That’s the most important thing- to train the next generation. Eventually there’s going to come a time when I have to hang it up. So whether you do 6, 20 or 40 plus, you need to train the next guys to step up to the plate.”
Moy does not have any plans to hang it up just yet, so for now he will continue doing his job. A job he has done for so long and a job he still enjoys doing. He does not do the job for the money or for the sense of accomplishment, but for the opportunity to serve.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve,” said Moy. “We’re part of that 1%....we’re the 1% that stepped up to the plate, signed our name on the dotted line and said ‘we’ll do this.’”
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.19.2018 16:43 |
| Story ID: | 289390 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | BETHEL, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 716 |
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