SOLDIER'S YOUTUBE FAME LEADS TO OTSG REQUEST FOR PERFORMANCE TRIAD RAP

By Mr. Chul H Yang (Northern Regional Medical Command)July 31, 2014

Staff Sgt. Stokely reads OTSG Note
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

When the short video clip sent in from a parent went viral on YouTube, Staff Sergeant Stokely was amazed. What followed his fame, led to an even more surprising event when Stokely received a call from The Office of the Army Surgeon General.

Stokely, an Orthopedic Specialist at Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic, Fort Drum, came up with the rap idea during his tour at the Tripler Army Medical Center. While observing his coworker give cast care instructions to young patients, he noticed that it was too fast and confusing. Stokely then came up with a rap concept to make the instructions more appealing to young patients.

He received immediate positive feedbacks from the patients as well as from their parents.

Stokely continue to improve the beats while ensuring that his style wasn't received as bad rap.

The performing the rap didn't come to him naturally in the beginning as he had to overcome his tenseness. In an interview with the Army Times Stokely said, "I got up the nerve to do it, and I've been doing it ever since."

The YouTube video resulted in multiple national media attention and interview requests including The Today Show, Army Times, Tokyo Television and a Fort Drum local newspaper, Watertown Daily Times.

Just when Stokely thought his fame was concluded, he received another call; this time from the Office of The Surgeon General. The Surgeon General, United States Army & Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command, Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho asked Stokely if he could produce a Performance Triad Rap.

"I didn't know what to say, but it was a request from the commanding general; I couldn't refuse" said Stokely. "I didn't think that this was going to become this huge. It was a shocker."

After studying up on the Performance Triad and components of the triad, Sleep, Activity, and Nutrition, Stokely spent many hours of his personal time to come up with the rap. Not only lyrics were challenging, he also had to deal with copyrighted music and beats.

With additional assistance from the OTSG and NRMC team, Stokely obtained limited copyrights from the artist. "It took us a while trying to get the music from the various artists and studios," said Stokely. "But we got the permission and able to finish the rap."

It was a collaboration effort by the Fort Drum MEDDAC, NRMC STRATCOM, and OTSG DCOMM.

The current version of the Performance Triad rap is posted on several social media sites. http://youtu.be/yoKlCNzRLVA

Recently, Stokely was presented with a three-star note from Lt. Gen. Horoho for his significant contribution to the AMEDD and the Performance Triad campaign. "The note from the commanding general means a lot to me," said Stokely. "I thought it was pretty cool that she took the time out of her busy schedule and wrote me a personal note."

Stokely also received a personal email from the Command Sgt. Maj. Donna Brock, Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army Medical Command.

Currently NRMC STRATCOM, Fort Drum MEDDAC, and Staff Sgt. Stokely are in production of an additional Performance Triad video.