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Two hours into a mission in Afghanistan clearing out all potential hazards in a bazaar, an Air Force reserve unit of three men gets a call to help aid an army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit that had been hit by explosives nearby.

(Photo Courtesy: Daniel Franco)
(Photo Courtesy: Daniel Franco)

One of the Air Force reservists walks through a doorway and finds two marines wounded from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) they had inadvertently set off. While providing aid to the two marines, another marine close by sets off another IED while walking out of a doorway, killing himself instantaneously.

Between 2010 and 2011, this was the reality for 25-year old Pasadena City College student and Air Force Reservist Daniel Franco. For the past six years, Franco has been working in the EOD unit for the Air Force Reserves as a bomb dismantler and was one of the three reservists bringing aid to the marines that day.

Franco and his team were not supposed to support the mission that day because the army unit was to have their own EOD unit. But since they were just five miles away, they were assigned as back up. He describes a chaotic scene of clearing an IED, aiding an army soldier, driving in search of the commander who is leading the operation, and hearing a blast come from a building they had just been at shortly beforehand.

Walking through the same doorway the marine had walked through prior to setting off the IED, Franco remembers the blast as if it just took place yesterday.

“…My [colleague] was thrown back against the wall and knocked out,” Franco said. “I was 15 feet from the blast, which definitely threw me onto the ground to where I couldn’t function much. I remember seeing stars.”

As a result of hearing stories from peers and family members, in addition to being trained for what situations may occur while serving in Afghanistan, Franco remembers having an idea as to the conditions he would be exposed to, but also being enthusiastic to do his job.

“I trained three years to do this job so I was kind of excited at the same time to go and actually perform what I had learned,” Franco said.

Originally from Stockton, California, Franco is an only child who grew up in a military family with six cousins and three uncles in the Marines, another cousin in the Air Force and his step-dad a former Army soldier. But Franco did not grow up planning to join the military.

The transition to student life means more time spent in the library for PCC student Daniel Hurtlocker. (Courier/Paul Tedrow)
The transition to student life means more time spent in the library
for PCC student Daniel Hurtlocker. (Courier/Paul Tedrow)

“Honestly, it was just something that was available. I never planned on joining up until my senior year when my cousin decided to join, but he went Marines and I went Air Force,” he said.

One month before their deployment, men and women in the Air Force Reserve EOD unit go through pre-training where three-man teams are assembled based on each individual’s skill sets. Each team gets one month to work together before being shipped out and spending the next six to seven months together without ever being apart.

“There were a lot of highs and a lot of lows, there were about three close calls but also the camaraderie and the brotherhood that you build, especially with a three man unit…,” he said.

While countless military men and women return home physically, mentally and/or emotionally handicapped due to the experiences they face while fighting overseas, Franco appears to be altogether intact.

“I would say I’m actually okay compared to a lot of the people who go through PTSD and trauma…,” he said. “It happened and it was an experience, and it’s driving me forward, especially having been there and knowing all the privileges we have here and to know that some aren’t so lucky so I might as well make the most of what I have while I’m here.”

After returning home from Afghanistan and having completed a year in South Korea, Franco decided to move in with a cousin in San Gabriel and pursue his dream of acting, as well as study psychology.

“So far it’s taking some getting used to being in a classroom environment again, especially one that’s not structured,” Franco said. “It’s definitely taking some getting used to.”

With a myriad of veterans struggling to cope with their experiences and obtain the help they need, Franco hopes by studying psychology he will be able to help them work through their experiences and live life as best they can.

“I would like to help through therapy and help them deal with what they’ve been through and saw,” he said. “For me, there was a struggle getting that kind of help within the Air Force, let alone on the outside so I’d like to help make it a little easier.”

Kristen Luna
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