Don’t monkey around with the Air Force

  • Published
  • By Capt. Shannon Mann
  • 916th ARW Public Affairs Office
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, NC --  At some point in our careers we've probably all been told to quit 'monkeying-around,' but for Senior Master Sgt. Michael Hartsfield that was just part of his job.

In a very unusual twist of events a privately-owned Japanese snow monkey escaped her owner in early December after her mate died. The monkey traveled more than 15 miles over a six-week period; unfortunately for her the journey came to end when she decided to breach the security gates at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

"I got a call from security forces one night saying they spotted a monkey on top of billeting," said Sergeant Hartsfield, a 916th Air Refueling Wing first sergeant and full-time base pest management technician. "They wanted me to come and get her, but I told them that if they couldn't get close to her than neither could I."

Sergeant Hartsfield worked in conjunction with another reservist who works full-time for the active duty host 4th Fighter Wing, Tech. Sgt. Tim Edwards, 916th chaplain's assistant is also the full-time base director of safety.

"What we're trying to do, we've got a live trap set," said Sergeant Edwards. "We're getting her used to going in and eating the fruit."

Base officials worked closely with the USDA to help capture the exotic primate who finally trusted the trap set for her and was captured on Jan. 29 after roaming the base for nearly a week.

The monkey was calm during capture even though her presence on base made for some interesting moments since the active duty was going through an Operational Readiness Inspection when she decided to show up, along with the inspector general.

"My husband's call sign is monkey," said Maj. Wendy Gresis, 916th ARW executive officer. "They had to change his call sign for the week because people couldn't figure out if they were referring to him or the real monkey."

The monkey was safely returned to her owner and the members of Seymour Johnson are glad to have finished their monkey business.