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MILITARY
BOOKS
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Emmett Spraktes
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Emmett Spraktes "served for 10 years in the US Navy Reserve with Special Boat
Teams (SBT). He held the rate of Gunners Mate Guns 2nd Class, completed the US
Navy elite Special Warfare Combatant-Craft (SWCC) course and was assigned to SBU
11, Mare Island Ca. In 2002 he deployed with SBT 22 to Central/South America
participating in Foreign Internal Defense/Maritime Interdiction
Operations/Protective Services Detail Missions. He enlisted in the California
Army National Guard in 2004. In 2007 deployed as a ground medic with the 1-143
Field Artillery to Balad, Iraq. Staff Sergeant (SSG) Spraktes returned home and
5 months later, was deployed to Jalalabad, Afghanistan as a Flight Medic with C
Company, 1-168th GSAB. During his 10 month tour in Afghanistan he treated 184
patients, flew 250 combat flight hours, and participated in 12 individual
hoists. SSG Spraktes is the recipient numerous awards including the Air Medal
with V for valor, Army Commendation Medal with V, Combat Medic Badge and
Silver Star for gallantry in action. He also received an Army Aviation
Association of America Award for Medic of the Year 2009 and Rescue of the
Year 2009. Spraktes honorably retired in 2011, after 25 years of law
enforcement, which included the California Department of Corrections, California
State Police, Vacaville Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
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His past assignments included 10 years as a SWAT operator/Medic, Governors
Protection Detail/Dignitary Protection, Flight Officer/ Paramedic, Drug
Recognition Expert, Bicycle Patrol, Public Oriented Policing and Problem
Solving, Emergency Medical Services Instructor at the CHP Academy, and numerous
other assignments. Spraktes is currently a Nationally Registered Paramedic (NREMT-P)
and California State licensed paramedic and is an associate academy instructor
for the California Highway Patrol Emergency Medical Services unit. He also is a
firearms instructor for a California based company Team 3 Tactical. Spraktes
is a private consultant for California Peace Officers Standards and Training
(POST) evaluating certified courses and instruction. Spraktes does presentations
for charity and community organizations; he has also presented to such groups as
the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
National Academy Graduates and California POST on topics regarding the
challenges reintegration of Law Enforcement personnel back from Military
deployment." Emmett Spraktes is the author of Selfish Prayer: How
California National Guard DUSTOFF Changed the Face of Medevac amid Chaos,
Carnage and Politics of War
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According to the book description of Selfish Prayer: How California
National Guard DUSTOFF Changed the Face of Medevac amid Chaos, Carnage and
Politics of War, "They fly into battles armed only with a rifle and a
red cross... whispering silent prayers for courage as they work. Driven by a
deep-seated compassion for human life, Medevac crews risked their lives for
their brothers in battle. Daring rescues, firefights, and courageous measures in
the air and on the ground pushed their abilities beyond limits to ensure
soldiers saw their loved ones again. This is the untold story of DUSTOFF - a
company of National Guard lifesavers dedicated to a mission that moved beyond
the bounds of deployment, and outside the borders of Afghanistan. By recruiting
civilian paramedics from the west coast, the 168th GSAB Medevac Company set out
to prove their training model could save more lives of wounded soldiers than
flight medics trained to the Army standard. Through eyewitness accounts of
bloody battles, hoists into dangerous terrain under fire, and investing
themselves to sheer exhaustion, they had one goal: bring our soldiers home
alive. The Army's documented results were staggering. The mortality rate of
American, Coalition and civilian patients was cut in half while they were in
theater. After they departed Afghanistan, it rose 50% to where it was before.
Returning home from deployment, their battle continued. Armed with damning
evidence and a memory-fueled passion that led to face to face conflicts, they
were marginalized and maligned. Undaunted, these men put their careers at risk.
They fought for fundamental changes to ensure our soldiers receive the best care
possible, forcing the Army's hand to finally do the right thing."
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