With smoke billowing into the air, flames engulfing the exits, and panicked onlookers unsure how to help, two people were trapped in an upstairs apartment with no foreseeable escape route. One Sailor, who happened to be nearby, saw the smoke and pulled off the road to see if anyone needed help. When he saw the scene, his instincts kicked in.
Electronics Technician (Nuclear) 1^st Class Gabriel Journey, stationed aboard the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Albany (SSN 753) was driving to the airport to pick up his spouse when he saw the smoke and decided to investigate.
“When I got there, there was a woman in the parking lot who said her apartment was on fire. She was able to make sure everyone was out of her apartment,” said Journey. “A police officer was driving by, and I was able to flag him down, and we both went back to the scene. There were a couple individuals trapped in an upstairs unit. We started trying to figure out how we were going to get up there. The way I saw it, we were running out of time. I asked some of the other gentlemen on the scene if they would hoist me up to the ledge on the side of the building so that I would be able to assist an elderly woman in getting out and her son who were both stuck up there.”
            In a viral video, a crowd of people looks up at a window where a woman is seen reaching out and calling for help. A police officer runs back and forth, while the woman recording screams, "Just jump!" Journey then gets the crowd to raise him, where he stands on a four-inch ledge, lifts the woman out of the window, and lowers her to the crowd. He then does the same for her son, who was also inside.
            “My thought processes were, someone needed help, and someone needed to take initiative. There were a lot of people there, but everyone was scared and it was very chaotic. I felt like I had the ability to do something. I had the ability to step in, so I did,” said Journey. “It wasn’t until after everything calmed down that I realized how close the fire was and how bad the situation could have been.”
            Submariners go through extensive training on combating various casualties, like fires and floods, and are trained to assess the scene and respond as quickly as possible. This training becomes muscle memory.
            "In the submarine force, we are trained to run to the scene of the casualty. Our very lives depend on this," said Submarine Forces Command, Force Master Chief Neil Ford. "Journey is another prime example of how our submarine force consistently puts service to others before themselves, and in doing so, saved lives."
            As the situation calmed down and Journey had time to process the day’s events, the reality of what happened began to sink in.
“It was an exciting moment for me because I was able to help other people, but at the same time, there were several people who don’t have their homes especially this close to the holidays. My heart goes out to those families. I was just very thankful to have been able to help and to have been in the right place at the right time,” said Journey.
            The heroic actions weren’t out of character for Journey. He embodies service to others on a daily basis at work according to his chiefs.
           
           “He is a command-wide leader. He runs suicide prevention, motorcycle safety and other programs which made him an easy [early promote] as a 2^nd class,” said Chief Electronics Technician (Nuclear) Shawn O’Neill, reactor control chief and Journey’s leading chief petty officer. “He is qualified outside his rate, he assists the engineering department master chief with running the engineering training program to achieve wide-spread departmental impact.”
            The Engineering Department Master Chief, Senior Chief Machinist’s Mate (Nuclear) Aaron Cook added, “It’s about culture and he continues to go out of his way to improve that for everyone. Not everyone does that. Most people get qualified and then stop there, but he got qualified and continues to look for ways to improve things for everyone.”
            Journey is a third-generation submariner, carrying forward a legacy of courage, commitment, and the core principles of the submarine community. He plans to continue pursuing submarine service as a career, upholding the values instilled in him by his family.
            “I’m the third generation within my family, so this is a long-term obligation for me,” said Journey. “But having the ability to prove to my friends and family that I’m doing something that matters, but also to myself, is very important to me. I’m able to harness that with my experience in the United States submarine fleet.”