From LOX farming to horseshoeing

When Eric Soyez joined the United States Navy, he became the 3rd generation in his family to serve in that branch of the Armed Forces. His father and his grandfather had both served and had been jet mechanics.

“I’ll be honest, I was a little bit of a hellraiser when I was a kid and I got myself in a little bit of trouble,” said Soyez. “I thought maybe it was time to turn the other direction and do something with my life.”

While he followed—in a way—in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, his stepfather also had an influence on his decision.

“My stepdad, he was very adamant about if you’re going to go into the service, go into something that you can take an education away from,” said Soyez. “He just didn’t want us boys to go infantry, he wanted us to get an education out of it.”

Though he joined the Navy, Soyez wouldn’t be a jet mechanic like his father or grandfather although he would have something to do with them as his MOS was Aviation Mechanical and Structural Safety Equipment.

Originally from Kansas, his first duty station was in Washington D.C. where he worked on a liquid oxygen farm. Liquid oxygen, or LOX, is used to provide breathing oxygen to jet pilots. According to an article from the National Guard, LOX takes up less space than its gas form. It also provides a more substantial supply for the pilot without the need for air tanks which would add extra weight to the aircraft.

Along with liquid oxygen, Soyez said he also worked with liquid nitrogen. This was used in place of compressed air for the tires on jets.

“As far as I know, what they always told us in the Navy, it was (used) because of the amount of moisture that nitrogen did not have in it,” said Soyez.

While stationed in Washington, D.C., Soyez said part of his duties included the color guard which meant trips to the Pentagon for retirement ceremonies. He was stationed in the nation’s capitol for four years before going to his next duty station: Fort Worth, Texas. According to Soyez, when in the Navy there are two types of duty stations and break down to sea duty and shore duty. Washington, D.C. was the shore duty while Fort Worth, Texas the sea duty even though it was 250 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

“I was actually land based, but we worked flights off Key West and then would get sent to the ships for workups,” said Soyez.

While Soyez worked in the LOX farms in D.C., at Fort Worth he worked much closer with jets, working on F-18s.

“We maintained the ejection seats in the jets, now we were installing the (LOX) bottles into the jets and we did the ram air systems and we did the liquid cooling radar systems,” said Soyez.

Ram air is the principle of using airflow which is created by a moving object to increase ambient pressure, also known as ram pressure. The liquid cooling radar systems, meanwhile, are essentially a heat exchanging process which utilizes coolant to keep the radar system on F-18s cool and prevent them from overheating.

Soyez was on leave from Fort Worth on September 11, 2001 when four commercial aircraft were hijacked by members of al-Qaeda. Two of the aircraft were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City, one was flown into the Pentagon and the fourth crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“That got me called back from Kansas to Texas because we went on red alert. We started going work-ups and we ended up getting called to the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt for Afghan Freedom (Operation Enduring Freedom),” said Soyez. “That was the one time that really sticks out in my mind.”

Operation Enduring Freedom began on October 7, 2001 and lasted for nearly 20 years when the United States withdrew from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. The initial reason for the operation was in response to the September 11 attacks with the objective of destroying the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban government.

During the initial stages of Operation Enduring Freedom, Soyez’ role on the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt was to aid in the night strike campaigns. Though he himself never saw combat, he ensured the F-18s were operational in-between strikes. He knew, however, he did not want to make the Navy his career.

“I had a game plan already. I was married to my ex-wife at the time and I knew I was going to get out of the Navy. I made E5 (sergeant) rank and by the time you make E5 rank you’re doing more paperwork than your actual job,” said Soyez. “Being the night check supervisor, I was more bossing people around and it just wasn’t as fun anymore. So, I just decided to get out. I knew, coming from a ranching background, I was going to have horses in my life.”

Soyez went to farrier school immediately after getting out of the Navy and eventually created his own business, Double S Horseshoeing. While he didn’t learn any horseshoeing in the Navy, he believes his time there helped prepare him.

“I did a lot of growing up in the Navy, I guess that’s what helped a lot,” said Soyez.

Now living in the Platte Valley, the farrier and Navy veteran said he would advocate for people to join either the Navy or the United States Air Force if they’re considering enlisting.

“You have a little more time to get into books and get an education. To me, it seemed like there was more time to be able to pick up a side-deal and get certified,” said Soyez. “A lot of the guys I worked with got certified to go on to still be in the aviation field with Lockheed Martin or Boeing.”

Since being back in the civilian side of life, Soyez said he believes most of the country does okay in showing respect for its veterans. The only place it’s lacking, he said, is when it comes to Congress and how the Department of Veteran Affairs is operated. He said one thing he hopes civilians keep in mind with some veterans is the difficulty in transitioning back to civilian life.

“It was easy to go from civilian life to military life, but it’s not easy to go from military life back to civilian life,” said Soyez. “I would just ask that people give them time to adjust and get it figured out that they’re back here where it’s safe.”