Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Life Savers

San Jose volunteers help soldiers with domestic emergencies

By Paul Lukes

Michael Frangadakis seems an unlikely candidate for saving the lives of hundreds of soldiers overseas. The local businessman keeps a relatively low profile during the week selling real estate in Los Gatos. On the weekends, however, Frangakakis is part of a relatively unknown civilian volunteer group in San Jose teaching combat lifesaving techniques to soldiers being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I recently talked with a 24-year-old returned soldier who was able to save his own life and two others when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb by using techniques he learned from us," said Frangadakis, who is a military reserve staff sergeant of the California State Military Reserve.

While most people know of the California National Guard's dual role in responding to domestic emergencies and deployment overseas fighting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, few people have heard of the California State Military Reserve.

Under the leadership of Brigadier Gen. Emory J. Hagan III since 2006, the reserve is made up of veterans from all branches of the military and non-veterans who possess a variety of valuable skills.

An all-volunteer organization, the reserve has two missions: to assist the National Guard with homeland security and to help prepare units that have been deployed.

Frangadakis served in Vietnam as an Army medical technician. He now uses his experience to teach National Guard soldiers these lifesaving techniques.

"Twenty percent of battlefield deaths are the result of loss of blood. We train our National Guard counterparts lifesaving skills: how to stop bleeding from wounds and how to start an IV," Frangadakis said. "These are skills everyone, especially soldiers, should know in case of an emergency."

Like Frangadakis, Rose Garden resident Scott Lefaver wanted to share his military experience after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, and joined the reserve's Civil Air Patrol.

"With all my military background, I had never heard of CSMR, but when I did learn about it, I requested an immediate appointment."

Since 2004, the colonel, who retired from the Army Reserve after 28 years of active and reserve duty, has been deputy commander of the local brigade--the 100th Troop Command Support Brigade.

San Jose's unit of the reserve has been steadily growing as veterans have learned of its existence. Members reside throughout the Bay Area.

San Jose volunteers have helped provide California with a trained and organized military force in the event of a state emergency when the National Guard is deployed on rescue missions, such as the recent California wildfires, when the 100-citizen soldiers of the reserve provided logistic support to their National Guard counterparts.

At the group's recent annual dinner, Major Gen. William H. Wade II, adjutant general of the California National Guard and director of California's Military Department, acknowledged the importance of the reserves to the active military. He pointed out that for every active soldier at the front, there are between 15 and 20 personnel in support.

Wade's National Guard force is the largest in the United States, with 18,000 Army National Guard and 4,900 Air National Guard members. He congratulated the nearly 700 reserve volunteers for their increase in membership over the past year and the importance of their mission.

San Jose's unit, lead by 1st Lt. Ted Albright, meets monthly at the National Guard Armory on Hedding Street, across from the Santa Clara County court house.

The reserve has no minimum enlistment, and volunteers can resign at any time. Veteran and non-veteran citizens who are not felons and who possess a high school diploma are eligible to join. In return, members are required to volunteer a minimum of 200 hours annually. Part of that time is spent at unit training drills that are usually eight hours on one Saturday each month.

Each volunteer's skills and services are used only within the state of California, and members can not be deployed, Albright said.

Talking with the veterans on the staff helped 36-year-old Willow Glen resident Ron Henson decide which military branch to join.

"Because my father and grandfather were both veterans, serving as medics, I began to feel it was my turn to serve. With some assistance from the local military reserve unit, I enlisted in the National Guard. I'll be going to basic training with the Guard in October, followed by medical technician school."

Sunnyvale resident and warrant officer candidate Michael Margulies tried to enlist in the National Guard four years ago but was turned down for being overweight. Margulies learned about the reserve, lost a few pounds, and says, "I am so happy that I did--and, really, I wasn't that much overweight."

When he was a college student in his home state of New York, Margulies took a year off to travel. His stop in Israel lasted 15 years. He also met his wife there.

While living in the Middle East, Margulies became fluent in Arabic and Hebrew. He has been able to use his language skills to help train National Guard troops.

When National Guard soldiers are deployed, one of the key volunteers they talk to is a legal officer who helps them complete all necessary paperwork for themselves and their families.

The local unit's legal officer helping with this administrative processing, San Jose resident Major Stephen Becker, is an attorney in private practice. He volunteered two years ago with the CSMR, 25 years after leaving the Army Reserve.

"I wanted to serve the community in a meaningful way because of my professional training and prior experience with the military's legal system," he says.

The monthly drills emphasize coordination with the National Guard during emergencies. In 2005, Lefaver served as an operations officer in support of the National Guard troops that were deployed during Hurricane Katrina.

"Our mobile satellite uplink station, called the IC4U, in New Orleans was informing us about what as happening there when there were no other communications possible. We had pictures in Sacramento, where our Joint Operations Center was, of the levees breaking before the local people had spotted it," Lefaver says. "We were a big help in getting valuable information in and out of New Orleans while all their local services were down."

San Jose State University Aviation Department graduate Ian Abbott is a sergeant in the local unit's communications division that uses the IC4U in cooperation with the National Guard.

Although Abbott does not have prior military service, his education and civilian job experience have been a benefit.

"I believe we are helping to make a real difference in the readiness of the National Guard."

For more information about the California State Military Reserve, contact Staff Sgt. Michael Frangadakis, 408. 210.8625.