Joel Gentz Research Paper

To his younger sister, Rachel Gentz, Joel Gentz was a nerd in high school. He was a member of the marching band, and more specifically the drum line. He was obsessed with all things related to flight and dreamed of being an astronaut. Joel was also an outdoors-man; enjoying hiking and backpacking with his family and as a Boy Scout. Joel graduated high school in 2002 and with events of 9/11 fresh in his mind, decided he wanted to enlist. His parents convinced him to go to college first and potentially become a military officer. Joel went on to attend Purdue University with an Air Force ROTC scholarship in hopes of becoming a pilot. Joel was the Cadet Wing Commander at Purdue. He was honored four years running with the Warrior Spirit award, elected by his ROTC class. He was also a member of the Arnold Air Society. He graduated in 2007 with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and was accepted to the U.S. Air Force’s pilot training. However, Joel had been exposed to the difficult training of the USAF Pararescue and had a new dream. Joel turned down his chance to fly to become a Combat Rescue Officer, and take on
Looking back, his sister Rachel remembers Joel doing things "just to see if he could." For example, on a backbacking trip Joel came across a 120 foot nautical line , weighing about 40lbsthat he decided he wanted. He coiled it, tied it to his backpack and carried the extra weight for the remainder of the trip. His enthusiasm to find his limits and go beyond made Pararescue a great fit. Captain Joel Gentz successfully completed Pararescue training and was excited to deploy. Joel always downplayed the dangers of his job to his family. He told them he was an officer, and that he was well trained to do his job. These things were very true; however, he didn't go into the details that his "job" included jumping from perfectly good airplanes into hot combat zones to rescue wounded