Recruiter responds to scene of accident Published Oct. 6, 2015 By Annette Crawford Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- His workday had not even begun when Tech. Sgt. Greg Seeley had to spring into action. Seeley had just parked his truck in front of the Albuquerque Military Entrance Processing Station on Aug. 19 when he heard screeching brakes. "It all happened too fast to really think over what to do," said Seely, who is assigned to the 367th Recruiting Squadron. When he turned to the direction of the sound of the brakes, he saw two vehicles crash into each other and then bounce off a semi, which rolled onto its side and slid to a stop about 50 feet away on Interstate 40. "I called 911 and ran to the fence separating the MEPS parking from the highway. I could see a fire had started in the brush next to the highway and quickly realized an overturned semi full of diesel next to a growing fire was a bad situation," he said. With the semi on its side, the eastbound lanes of I-40 were shut down. Some of the drivers who were now at a standstill ran to help the driver of the car that was crushed between the semi and the barrier. From behind the fence, Seeley could see the other side of the wreck and saw an older man in the passenger seat of a pickup struggling to get out. "He was yelling that fuel was leaking. No one could get to him so I hopped two chain-link fences and the concrete barrier to help get him away from the semi," Seeley said. He was soon joined by Maj. Craig Nordskog, the Albuquerque MEPS commander, and Army Capt. John Deal, MEPS operations commander, who came over the fence behind him. The three of them pulled open the door to the truck and help the man move away from the crash site. "As soon as we got the door open, we turned to see the driver of the semi standing in his cab bleeding from his arm and signaling to us. With his truck overturned he couldn't reach the now topside passenger door, so we shouted for him to kick his windshield out and he tried but couldn't break the glass," Seeley explained. "I grabbed a broken piece of the semi and started breaking the windshield, but quickly realized if I kicked it in it would be on top of the driver. Captain Deal gave me a boost up onto the semi cab and I opened the passenger door. The captain came up behind me and held up the door and held onto me as I leaned into the cab and pulled the driver out. We slid down the cab and helped the driver off and all three booked it away from the semi," Seeley said. While all this was happening, the fire had gotten larger. Seeley said that fortunately, two men from behind the wreck came forward with fire extinguishers from their vehicles and extinguished the flames. "At this point we had moved all the victims away from the crash and we tended to the most injured, and gave the info to the firemen rolling onto the scene. We stuck with the girl who was most badly injured and gave her water while the medics tended to her. In a dramatic turn this girl who was bloodied and crying for her dog saw a fireman come over with her dog that had been stuck under the back seat. Poor thing had broken leg, but as bad as the wreck was I still can't believe she and the dog walked away from it." Looking back on the events of that Wednesday morning, Seeley said he was grateful to be of help. "It was a crazy thing to see happen in front of you," he admitted. "I just happened to be where I could help and saw that others couldn't, so I jumped in and tried to make sure everyone got clear. Thankfully, for the men with the fire extinguishers and the others who helped it turned out much better than it could have been." Seeley said they later found out the crash was caused by a drunk driver. "I went home that day and hugged my kids a little tighter knowing that it could have been a much worse day for me and all those involved. That drunk driver put so many innocent people at risk."