News Photo by Darby Hinkley From left, Brian Gebo and George Mills, scientific divers with Force Blue, stand outside the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena on Friday. The military veterans are part of a team of eight who visited Alpena this week to conduct research and conservation missions in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

ALPENA — A team of eight military veterans working with Force Blue deployed in Alpena this week, conducting research and conservation missions in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The team has been involved in every aspect of sanctuary programs, from education to community outreach to diving down in Lake Huron to conduct research at shipwreck sites. Capping the week’s activities will be the showing of “Frog Fathers” at 6 p.m. tonight at the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center.

“It’s been a great week,” said Jeff Gray, superintendent of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. “They’re amazing humans for what they did in their service to our country, and it’s an honor just to know these guys, but then to work side by side with them is just incredible.”

He explained some of the programs Force Blue has been involved with in their time here.

“We had a Navy SEAL down at Alcona High School talking to students about how special ops guys — Navy SEALs, green berets, parajumpers — use science and math every single day when they’re doing their job,” Gray said.

He added that officials had a well-attended program on Wednesday night, and the film is planned for this evening.

“Every single thing we were doing, they helped us this week,” Gray said. “They were doing military service, and now they’re serving by protecting the ocean and the Great Lakes.”

He added that Force Blue is making a documentary while they in Alpena, and that film will be shown in January at the Thunder Bay International Film Festival.

“They’re really good at what they do,” Gray added.

He said this is the first time Force Blue has been to Alpena, but it won’t be the last.

“They’ve fallen in love with Alpena,” he said. “They love the people and they love working here. We’re looking for ways for them to keep coming back.”

Force Blue is on a tour of all 16 national marine sanctuaries, and Thunder Bay was one of the team’s first stops.

“They do some real powerful education with students where they help students learn how to dive, and they’ve done that with Gold Star children,” Gray said.

A Gold Star Family is the immediate family of a service member who died while serving in the military.

“It’s really a powerful group,” Gray added of Force Blue.

Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary encompasses 4,300 square miles, reaching from the shores of Presque Isle, Alpena, and Alcona counties all the way to the international line with Canada.

“It’s giant, so having this team here to help is huge,” Gray said.

He added that, while the team was here, they were able to get out onto a Viking cruise ship resting in Thunder Bay.

“One of these guys is from Alaska, another one lives in the U.K., a couple from down in Florida,” Gray said. “This team came from across the globe, essentially, to spend the week here to do this work. And they’ve been everywhere.”

Force Blue helped with freshwater acidification data collection, mooring buoy research, and mapping some of the shipwrecks, as well.

“They’re the coolest guys on the planet,” Gray said.

Two of those guys are Brian Gebo and George Mills, scientific divers with Force Blue.

Gebo grew up in Massachusetts, attended The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, and is a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force Pararescue.

“Upon retirement, I found Force Blue as a nonprofit organization that I found to be of great interest to me and my family, as a way to give back to marine conservation,” Gebo said. “After coming out of many military deployments, this is a great way to redeploy and look after marine conservation efforts.”

Mills was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school.

“I was a senior when 9/11 happened,” Mills said. “So I decided to enlist in the Marine Corps and become an infantry rifleman. That quickly turned into me finding myself in some specialized units — the Marine Corps’ Anti-terrorism Battalion, which was newly created in 2004, and then that morphed into me finding a new job called a joint terminal attack controller.”

He spent 13 years in active duty in the Marine Corps, and five in reserve service.

“When I left the military, I decided to pursue scuba to the highest degree,” Mills said.

He is now a diving instructor certified by the National Association of Underwater Instructors.

“I’m also a public safety diver instructor,” Mills added. “So I get to certify federal police and fire department dive teams and search and rescue.”

He is currently employed with West Palm Beach as a firefighter paramedic and rescue diver.

Gebo and Mills said Force Blue has given them a rewarding way to continue using their skills to better our country and world.

Gebo said it is very meaningful to not only help out with marine conservation efforts, but to be surrounded by other special operations veterans who understand.

He said it is rewarding “being able to deploy to the different national marine sanctuaries and provide the marine conservation help where needed at each (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) marine sanctuary. I was deployed to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, where we did some turtle research, and now, this is my second deployment, to Thunder Bay.”

“For me, it’s a combination of diving and camaraderie,” Mills said. “You’re very mission-oriented. You’re very driven and focused. And, every day you wake up, you’re part of a team, you have a target to aim at, you have a mission to complete, and you have brethren around you. And, once you don’t, it’s very easy to lose a sense of purpose … We all have a lot in common, so it’s pretty neat to get together.”

Mills added that diving provides healing for him, and he loves being surrounded by water.

“When you’re under the water, in the water, around the water, under the water, there is healing that actively happens,” Mills said. “It’s truly beneficial to the mind, body, and soul. For me, I was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder after combat stress — three tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. It took a lot out of me. There was a saying that I heard: ‘Science reveals, and God heals.’ It was a combination of that and getting in the ocean and going through these schools and all this training — we’re talking thousands of dives — I have complete and total post-traumatic growth. So take the ocean therapy … it’s truly medicine, the water is. Combine that, and you’ve got something pretty powerful there.”

The men said the marine conservation work they are doing is fun, interesting, and vitally important, and the Force Blue team works very well together and with the scientists and researchers with whom they partner.

“This is something that is bigger than just me,” Gebo said. “So being a part of a larger network of organizations with a larger mission gives me a sense of purpose.”

Gebo and Mills were very impressed with how clean, welcoming, and enjoyable Alpena has been during their time here.

“I think it’s gorgeous,” Gebo said. “There’s no trash. There’s no litter.”

Mills added, “The minute we landed in Alpena, we were looking around going, ‘How do I live here?’ Everything’s clean. Everything is neat and organized. Everybody is patriotic. There are more U.S. flags than you can count. The people are kind, friendly, and warm. We love it here.”

Reach Darby Hinkley at dhinkley@thealpenanews.com or at 989-358-5691.