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505th Command and Control Wing News

Master sergeant saves choking lieutenant

  • Published
  • By Noel Getlin
  • 505th Command and Control Wing
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  By all accounts, Master Sgt. Robert Johnson is pretty unflappable. So when a lieutenant next to him began choking on his lunch, the sergeant calmly got up and performed the Heimlich Maneuver, successfully dislodging the obstruction.

"It happened so fast, I barely knew what happened," said Tech. Sgt. Eduardo Oyola, an intelligence analyst also with the 505th Combat Training Squadron who witnessed the incident. "The lieutenant had his head in his hand looking down at his plate. I thought he just didn't like the food."

Squadron members were TDY to U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr, Germany, participating in EUCOM exercise Austere Challenge 2010. On April 30, members of the Mission Reports and Battle Damage Assessment Cell sat down for lunch at the dining facility. Sergeants Oyola and Johnson were joined by three augmentees, one of whom was a lieutenant from Ramstein Air Force Base. They were talking over chicken, rice and pasta salad when they first noticed the lieutenant acting strangely.

"He began coughing but it wasn't a normal kind of cough. It was like he was trying to clear his throat," said Sergeant Johnson, superintendent of the 505th CTS. "I asked if he was OK and he nodded. But then he started turning red and coughed again. This time it was obvious he was having difficulties."

According to Oyola, Sergeant Johnson calmly got up, stood behind the lieutenant and delivered a quick upward thrust to the lieutenant's abdomen.
"I executed it twice, his airway was cleared and then he started breathing again," Sergeant Johnson said.

Sergeant Oyola said Sergeant Johnson was the only one who remained composed at the table.

"We had our mouths wide open in shock, and Sergeant Johnson just acted like nothing happened," Sergeant Oyola said. "He then said he was going to get some fruit and asked if anybody wanted anything."

Sergeant Johnson never mentioned the save to anyone. In fact, Sergeant Oyola said no one would have known had he not told others about it.

When the Army colonel in charge of the Joint Exercise Control Group intelligence element heard about the incident, he commended the intelligence analyst for acting quickly and calmly to save a life. He then presented a coin on behalf of the director of intelligence, Headquarters EUCOM.

Sergeant Johnson, who just  returned from the exercise, credits the Boy Scouts for teaching him the Heimlich Maneuver. This was the third time he performed the live-saving action. When he was a child, a grandmother in the neighborhood had difficulty swallowing and he had performed the Heimlich on her twice.

"When it happens, a lot of people freeze - they don't know what to do," Sergeant Johnson said. "I'd done it before and I recognized the signs, so I just did it.
Even now, the sergeant appears nonchalant about the entire incident.

"I don't look at this as a big deal," he said. "I did what was right and needed to be done. I was just calm and did what was needed.

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Master sergeant saves choking lieutenant

  • Published
  • By Noel Getlin
  • 505th Command and Control Wing
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  By all accounts, Master Sgt. Robert Johnson is pretty unflappable. So when a lieutenant next to him began choking on his lunch, the sergeant calmly got up and performed the Heimlich Maneuver, successfully dislodging the obstruction.

"It happened so fast, I barely knew what happened," said Tech. Sgt. Eduardo Oyola, an intelligence analyst also with the 505th Combat Training Squadron who witnessed the incident. "The lieutenant had his head in his hand looking down at his plate. I thought he just didn't like the food."

Squadron members were TDY to U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr, Germany, participating in EUCOM exercise Austere Challenge 2010. On April 30, members of the Mission Reports and Battle Damage Assessment Cell sat down for lunch at the dining facility. Sergeants Oyola and Johnson were joined by three augmentees, one of whom was a lieutenant from Ramstein Air Force Base. They were talking over chicken, rice and pasta salad when they first noticed the lieutenant acting strangely.

"He began coughing but it wasn't a normal kind of cough. It was like he was trying to clear his throat," said Sergeant Johnson, superintendent of the 505th CTS. "I asked if he was OK and he nodded. But then he started turning red and coughed again. This time it was obvious he was having difficulties."

According to Oyola, Sergeant Johnson calmly got up, stood behind the lieutenant and delivered a quick upward thrust to the lieutenant's abdomen.
"I executed it twice, his airway was cleared and then he started breathing again," Sergeant Johnson said.

Sergeant Oyola said Sergeant Johnson was the only one who remained composed at the table.

"We had our mouths wide open in shock, and Sergeant Johnson just acted like nothing happened," Sergeant Oyola said. "He then said he was going to get some fruit and asked if anybody wanted anything."

Sergeant Johnson never mentioned the save to anyone. In fact, Sergeant Oyola said no one would have known had he not told others about it.

When the Army colonel in charge of the Joint Exercise Control Group intelligence element heard about the incident, he commended the intelligence analyst for acting quickly and calmly to save a life. He then presented a coin on behalf of the director of intelligence, Headquarters EUCOM.

Sergeant Johnson, who just  returned from the exercise, credits the Boy Scouts for teaching him the Heimlich Maneuver. This was the third time he performed the live-saving action. When he was a child, a grandmother in the neighborhood had difficulty swallowing and he had performed the Heimlich on her twice.

"When it happens, a lot of people freeze - they don't know what to do," Sergeant Johnson said. "I'd done it before and I recognized the signs, so I just did it.
Even now, the sergeant appears nonchalant about the entire incident.

"I don't look at this as a big deal," he said. "I did what was right and needed to be done. I was just calm and did what was needed.