Feb. 29, 2000

Fairfax County, Virginia, USA ... [ANN]

Somewhere in the world, an earthquake strikes a city, a hurricane hits a coastline, or a terrorist bomb destroys a building.  Within a couple of hours, they receive a phone call from the United States State Department and are placed on alert status.  They go to the Fire and Rescue Academy and start organizing paperwork, making phone calls, and getting everybody ready.  They organize gear, check passports and immunization records, get a quick physical examination, and say goodbye to family and friends.  With their equipment packed and weighed to meet flight regulations, they pile onto a bus and head for the airport.  Within six hours of the phone call, they are off the ground and on their way to rescue people from the rubble and devastation of a major natural or man-made catastrophe.  They are members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team.
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Craig Luecke is one of the team members.  He grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, and has been a native of the Washington, D.C., area for his entire life.  His parents became Seventh-day Adventists when Luecke was in the seventh grade, and they immediately pulled him out of public school and placed him in Spencerville Junior Academy.

School wasn’t the only environment that changed for Luecke.  He also left the Boy Scouts of America to become a member of Pathfinders (a similar Adventist program)-the organization that he credits with teaching him many of the skills and character traits that enable him to do his rescue work today.  Highly involved in the organization and activities, Luecke was named Chesapeake Pathfinder of the Year.
 
It was his experience in Pathfinders that led Luecke to an initial involvement in community service.
 
“There was a lot to do in Pathfinders,” he states.  “It was more social and community-oriented.  We actually went out and did something for the people around us.”  He also values the camping experiences and skills he learned while in Pathfinders-skills that he now uses all around the world to help save lives.

After leaving Spencerville Junior Academy, Luecke went on to Highland View Academy, and it was there that he became directly involved with his future career.  Along with several other students, he joined a volunteer fire department in Hagerstown, Maryland.  He also volunteered at the Community Rescue Service and became an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) during those years.  After graduating from college, Luecke was hired fulltime by the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.  He has been with them ever since and credits his background and lifestyle with his success in his job.

“I accelerated through the fire department way ahead of schedule,” Luecke states.  “I could have turned to alcohol, drugs, or the wrong crowd, but my lifestyle choices have paid off.  My mind is stronger, I can accept reality, and I am more comfortable with myself and comfortable with God.” 

About ten years ago, Luecke was presented with another career challenge-the opportunity to become a member of an international, specialized rescue team that would respond to disasters worldwide under the direction of the United States government.  With the outstanding computer skills he had developed over the years, Luecke was placed on the Virginia Task Force One team as a Technical Information Specialist.
 
Although 27 similar teams were formed across the United States territory, only two of them were authorized to respond to international calls for the United States State Department.  Fairfax, Virginia, handles the responses to the northern half of the hemisphere, and the team in Miami, Florida, responds to calls in the southern half.  Luecke’s first personal mission, however, came from within his own country.  In the spring of 1995, his team was called to assist at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing.  It was an unforgettable experience.

“The first day I was there, I went up to the top floor,” Luecke remembers.  “I could feel the whole building swaying.”

The work was dangerous, and the team arrived too late to save any lives.  It was Luecke’s first, and hardest, mission.

“That was probably my worst experience-on an emotional level and a physical level,” he states.

In addition to Oklahoma City and other domestic disasters, Luecke’s team has responded to calls in places like Armenia, Nairobi, and Taiwan.  Just last year, the team was involved with the devastating earthquakes that ravaged parts of Turkey.
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“It just looked like an atomic bomb went off in Turkey,” he says.  “It was widespread devastation.  As far as you could see, buildings were leaning over or fully collapsed, with homeless people living everywhere with nothing left.  It was the worst case scenario we’ve ever seen.”
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The team worked tirelessly over the next four or five days, performing four successful rescues.  One of the highlights was the rescue of an eight-year-old boy.  Trapped for three days, the boy’s cries were finally heard as a backhoe was removing the debris of the building.  Using modern technology, especially “search cams” that rescuers can fit down in tight places to get a picture, the team was able to locate the boy and extricate him from under the concrete slabs.  He was in his bunk bed and the bedposts managed to keep a small survival space open.  He was the sole survivor in his family, but the rescuers brought him up without a scratch.
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“I couldn’t believe it when we saw him,” Luecke says.  “That rescue was definitely a high point.  The best part is bringing out some live victims and helping the people.  Just seeing these people come out from a building that’s completely collapsed, it’s just an experience that unless you’re there, it’s indescribable.”

Although the rescues are exciting, the rest of the overseas experience is hard on the team members.  The airplane ride is a miserable experience.  The team sits in the tail area of a C-5 transport plane-the largest cargo plane that the Air Force has.  There are no windows and no heat, so it’s extremely cold.  Mid-air flight refueling turns the plane into a roller coaster, so airsickness is common.  For a trip such as Turkey, these conditions must be endured for about 20 hours.  After arriving at a destination, the team will split into two shifts, so that people are working around the clock.  Because of the number of interpreters and local helpers, many team members end up sleeping outside, on dog food bags, or on whatever they can find.  Some have woken up with rats as companions.  Sleep is limited, and conditions are rough.

“It’s definitely not for everybody,” Luecke maintains.

So why does he do it?

“Ever since I got into Spencerville Junior Academy and high school, I started wanting to help others, especially when I was at Mount Aetna Youth Camp.  I just enjoy helping others that are not as fortunate as I am.”

As a member of an international rescue team, Luecke has experienced many cultures, places, and people.  He maintains that it has changed his views and outlook towards others.

“When you get away from the politics and all that stuff, the people are just like us.  I have a totally different outlook on everyone else now.  Every country I’ve gone to people have been incredibly nice to us.  It’s just completely different from what I used to think.”

The importance of lifestyle choices is one issue that Luecke stresses, especially to young people.

“Your lifestyle does affect your later life,” he says.  “It’s important for the youth to understand that.”  Luecke and the fire department are actively involved in the lives of young people-through school visits, puppet shows, truck displays, and the “Fill the Boot” campaign which raises money to combat muscular dystrophy.

Luecke’s attitude toward life and his lifestyle choices are appreciated not only by those he rescues or the school kids he visits.  He has also made a positive impression on his co-workers.

“I’ve known Craig for the last 13 years,” states John J. Brown, Jr., Assistant Chief of Operations at the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.  “I am just amazed at his ability to do his job on the technical side, but also his ability get along with folks.  He’s just a wonderful, wonderful person.  I would say that Craig has the highest standard of ethics of any of us in the Fire and Rescue Department.  He’s a good person on the inside, as well as portrays that positive image on the outside.”

Luecke remains appreciative towards the positive influences and experiences of his past and looks forward to using them throughout his career.
“A lot of people pressed me when I was at Highland View Academy to become a pastor, but that’s not for me.  I like being outside.  I can’t think of a better job than what I’m in now.  I have the ability, all day long and 24 hours a day on a shift, to go out and help people and save lives.” [H. Noelle Brannan]

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