4 Arkansas National Guard soldiers honored for lifesaving work after truck crash at Fort Chaffee

Four Arkansas Army National Guard soldiers received Meritorious Service Medals on Thursday for their quick action in the aftermath of a vehicle accident during a training exercise at Fort Chaffee.

Eight soldiers were injured in the Monday crash, including one serious injury.

Sgt. Eduardo Salazar, Staff Sgt. Ryan Niblett and Staff Sgt. Jorge Ramirez — assigned to 936th Forward Support Co., 142nd Field Artillery Brigade — provided immediate care and aid to the seriously injured soldier.

“Their timely use of belts as makeshift tourniquets preserved a soldier’s life until local emergency medical services could arrive,” according to an Arkansas Army National Guard statement. The injured soldier was extricated with the help of local first responders using the Jaws of Life. 

The soldier was airlifted to a hospital — nearly 60 miles by air — in Fayetteville, Ark. After being stabilized, the soldier was moved to a hospital in Springfield, Mo., 100 miles away, for a higher level of care.

Staff Sgt. James Roach, a flight paramedic, accompanied the injured soldier during the airlift on a Lakota helicopter. He was recognized for his actions in monitoring the soldier during the flight and making sure the soldier received proper trauma care during the transfer to the civilian medical care team.

“We’re going to recognize these NCOs,” Brig. Gen. Chad Bridges, Arkansas’s adjutant general, told an assembled platoon of soldiers, civic leaders and news media. “The first stanza of the Noncommissioned Officer Creed is, ‘No one is more professional than I.’ And whether they responded on scene or in the helicopter, they were being a noncommissioned officer, and supporting soldiers, and doing their duty, and doing it in a professional, distinctive way, and giving of themselves to get the mission accomplished and to take care of each other, and to make things better.”

The Meritorious Service Medal was established in 1969 to recognize outstanding noncombat meritorious achievement or service.

The accident involved three Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks. During the convoy, the first two trucks stopped, but the third collided with the rear of the middle truck. The 10-ton trucks are used for logistics and heavy transport.

The accident is under investigation.

The brigade immediately ordered a stand-down to focus on hazard prevention and to reinforce safety training, the Guard said. Training, which began Saturday and runs through May 16, resumed Tuesday.