Lockdown Achievements

Running Through Lockdown

There is always someone out there setting a high bar when it comes to fitness. In many cases people fail to meet their goal, or sneak a few cheat days. That is not the case for Air Traffic Controller 2nd Class Benjamin Colley, from Fredericksburg, Va.

From April 30, 2019 to April 30, 2020 Colley drove to the Naval Air Station Sigonella track and ran a minimum of one mile everyday. With this year being a leap year his goal was extended to 366 days of running without taking a single day off.

With everything going on these days and gyms being closed it can be easy to make excuses to not stay in shape.

“I was tired of being lazy and taking days off,” said Colley. “I figured if I set a challenge for myself I would have to stay committed to it.”

For Colley there was no daily goal on the amount of miles he would run, it was more about bettering himself and sticking to the goal.

“My off days I would run for a mile I would train of course, I think the most I ran at one time was about 16 miles,” said Colley. “It ranged from one mile to 16 miles throughout the year. I didn’t do it for saying I got to get this many miles today, I kind of just did it to work harder everyday.”

As if running at least a mile everyday was not difficult enough, Colley decided to adjust the final 10 days of his physical challenge.

“For the last 10 days of my challenge I decided to run 10 miles a day,” said Colley. “One of the 10 days I ran a half marathon, so I ran 103 miles in 10 days.”

Towards the second half of his challenge Colley subscribed to actual running programs, minus their rest days of course.

“Once I started training more it started to take more of a toll on my body,” said Colley. “Actual running programs they have in the program “rest day”, but I can’t have a rest day. I feel like that affected me a little, but it really didn’t bother me too much.”

Italy and most of the world being in lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus, can make staying on top of your fitness goals a little more difficult.

“The lockdown did not help my goal,” said Colley. “Running ten miles on a track is way worse than running out on a trail somewhere. Before the lockdown I was able to run the trail around the airfield a lot. That is like five or six miles a loop, it would have been much easier running there.”

Always There, Always Ready

A parent’s worst nightmare is something happening to their child and for one NAS Sigonella parent, that nightmare came true.

Two and half year old Coy was eating popcorn when he choked on a kernel but was still breathing.

Knowing something was still wrong, his mom, Cullen Duclion, called the off-base 911 number.

Emergency dispatcher Cody Frett answered the call.

The emergency dispatch center is part of Emergency Management department here at NAS Sigonella and is staffed 24/7 with a professional team of emergency telecommunications dedicated to serving the community.

“In under two minutes from the start of the call, the situation had changed drastically from an obstructed airway to an unconscious child,” recalled Frett.

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate [Handler] 2nd Class Neal Rodgers, Frett’s partner at dispatch, contacted the Italian Emergency Services to get a medical response to the caller’s location.

For Frett this call hit close to home since his own son had experienced a similar situation around the same age as Coy. “I was thinking of my son when this call started, but after things escalated I was only thinking preemptively of what step comes next.”

Frett stayed on the line and helped Duclion through two cycles of CPR to get Coy breathing again.

“He kept me engaged and calm,” stated Duclion. “I am super thankful for the dispatcher staying on the phone with me until the ambulance arrived. I could not imagine being alone worrying and waiting.”

Coy was taken to Garibaldi hospital in Catania and the medical team was able to remove the popcorn kernel.

After a few days at the hospital to monitor Coy and ensure his lungs and breathing were healthy he was released and returned home May 4.

“He is back to normal and acts like nothing ever happened,” added Duclion.

“I am proud of the team that assisted in a positive outcome for the family and would like to assure you, your Emergency Management Emergency Dispatchers are ‘Always There, Always Ready,” said Dispatch Center Supervisor, Jamie Strotman.

Lockdown Unlocks Childhood Dreams

Builder 1st Class Zachary Crouse didn’t let the lockdown keep him from reliving his childhood while also providing his kids with more playroom inside their house.

“We moved here in December from Port Hueneme, Calif,” explained Crouse. “When I saw the bedroom ceilings here I realized I could build up to have more playroom for the kids.”

By creating a multi-level fort inside the room for his kids play on, building up is exactly what he did.

The impressive design took the Seabee one weekend to build.

The biggest challenge came with gathering the materials for the fort.

“I got the materials from Bricoman,” said Crouse. “It took a long time to get into the store with social distancing rules in place.”

Crouse also explained that he had to follow his wife’s own COVID-19 precautions after the trip.

“My wife made sure I changed clothes and sanitized everything, including myself, before coming into the house.”

The fort provides lots of playing room and action for his two eldest children with a rock climbing wall, communication tube between the levels, and even an area to watch TV under the canopy.

The fort is just one of many projects Crouse has been working on.

“I built a potting station and a raised box garden for my with the leftover material,” added Crouse. “Currently, I am working on a coin rack for a friend.”

For anyone interested in their own fort and looking for some help, Crouse has you covered.

“ I would be more than happy to help someone build their own fort,” stated Crouse. “I enjoy doing it for fun rather then money.”

Keeping the Mission Running During Lockdown

Despite lockdown restrictions there are some services that are vital and must keep running.

One such service is the NAS Sigonella Fire Department.

“We’ve done our best to do our job and adhere to the Italian decree with our mask wearing and our social distancing,” remarked Fire Chief Kenneth Taylor.

Working within the constraints of social distancing and other COVID-19 restrictions, the Fire Department has adapted their trainings and operating procedures.

“We’ve done our hose testing which is a requirement of the national fire protection association,” explained Taylor. “We’ve also formulated our own standing operating procedures for the pandemic. We looked at what was required now in relation to this pandemic as well as any future pandemics that may occur and how we can mitigate this.”

Training and drills are an important part of maintaining mission readiness for the fire department.

May 13, the Fire Department ran a barrier engagement drill along side the Italian Air Force Fire Department.

If an aircraft has an emergency, the group in charge of the incident is based on the ownership of the aircraft (Navy, NATO, Italian, etc...).

Drilling together allows for both Fire Departments to learn each other’s procedures in handling a barrier engagement so that both may be able to work together to mitigate the emergency.

Despite the challenges, the Fire Department has worked continuously answering emergency calls and the increase in smoke detectors going off with more people spending more time at home and cooking due to the lockdown.