{"468661":{"#nid":"468661","#data":{"type":"news","title":"No longer on the battlefield, still in service to their country","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETheir life stories are different. Stephen Hilliard is a farmer\u2019s son who loved playing war in the woods. Chris Lucas grew up the son of a pastor and had a keen interest in intel and taking toys apart to see how they worked.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut both men share a few common bonds, most notably, a family tradition \u2014 one they both continued \u2014 of service to their country.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI always knew I\u2019d go into the military,\u201d said Hilliard, an Army veteran who served in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. \u201cIt was in my blood \u2013 as far back as I looked, I had family in three out of four branches of the armed services.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELucas joined the Air Force as an operations intelligence apprentice and remains in service as a reservist.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough both are no longer active duty, they continue to serve their country and fellow armed forces servicemen and servicewomen in the private sector by developing and creating supplies that save lives on the battlefield.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHilliard is director of product development for Blue Force Gear in Pooler, near Savannah. Lucas is production manager in the fabrication department of JCB in Pooler, just a mile down the road from Hilliard\u2019s facility.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBoth are the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership\u2019s (GaMEP) November Faces of Manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe manufacturing sector remains a critical segment of Georgia\u2019s economy. Lucas\u2019 and Hilliard\u2019s stories, and that of others profiled in the \u201cFaces\u201d series, illustrate how each and every one of the 365,000 Georgians who work in the industry contributes to the strength and continued economic vitality of their local communities and the overall Georgia economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn a more personal level, both Lucas and Hilliard say they find deep satisfaction in knowing the work they do here in Georgia helps those still in uniform.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELucas, for example, manages the team at JCB that produces the HMEE (High Mobility Engineer Excavator), an armored backhoe loader that is deployed with military convoys.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe had received a letter from a soldier who drove over an IED (improvised explosive device) in one of JCB\u2019s HMEEs,\u201d he said. \u201cHe said the outside of the vehicle was heavily damaged, but he walked away without a scratch. His letter thanked our team for taking the time to build a product that saved his life.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHilliard, who designs products for Blue Force Gear, a maker of military weapon slings and load carriage equipment, received a similarly moving letter from an injured Marine. The Marine lost one arm and several fingers from his opposite hand on the battlefield. But because of the design of Blue Force Gear\u2019s load carriage vest, that Marine was able to get to his own trauma kit and start applying self-aid, which ultimately saved his life.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can\u2019t get a better reward than using our hands to make items that protect the people who protect us.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2014 P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Each month the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership profiles Georgians who play a critical role in the industry."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Ch4\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/h4\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Two people on two different paths share a common thread of serving in the military and manufacturing products for the defense industry."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2015-11-11 10:12:51","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:58","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"468571":{"id":"468571","type":"image","title":"Stephen Hilliard-Chris Lucas","body":null,"created":"1449257147","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:25:47","changed":"1475895216","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:36","alt":"Stephen Hilliard-Chris Lucas","file":{"fid":"203829","name":"hilliard_and_lucas_-_photo_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hilliard_and_lucas_-_photo_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/hilliard_and_lucas_-_photo_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1916168,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/hilliard_and_lucas_-_photo_2_0.jpg?itok=orTMqPF3"}}},"media_ids":["468571"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/facesofmanufacturing.com\/","title":"Faces of Manufacturing"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"147591","name":"Chris Lucas"},{"id":"121581","name":"Faces of Manufacturing"},{"id":"16331","name":"GaMEP"},{"id":"136201","name":"Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership"},{"id":"169772","name":"Stephen Hilliard"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor media inquiries contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFor more information about GaMEP contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKatie Takacs\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGaMEP Marketing Manager\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:katie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekatie.takacs@innovate.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}