APEX, N.C. (WTVD) — Colonel Josh McConkey has spent more than two decades serving our country, in both the Army and Air Force Reserve. He’s now a Commander at Andrews Air Force Base of the 459th Aeromedical Staging Squadron.

“I’ve got to do some pretty special things. I spent time with combat search and rescue. I’ve flown as a flight surgeon, spent time in Rwanda with the State Department,” Col. McConkey told ABC11.

On Monday though, he’ll get to do something that will mark a first for the decorated servicemember, leading the Air Force Reserve delegation at the 2025 Presidential Inauguration.

“I marched a lot when I was a kid and grown up in marching band. So, this is a lot of fun for me, but being able to take part in something like this, being a part of history is pretty special,” Col. McConkey said.

He leaves Thursday to head to Washington DC with months of preparation leading up to this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

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“A lot of logistics and security: we received a 108-page PowerPoint presentation just to go over. There’s a lot of history behind that, a lot of procedure and then the security concerns alone. So, you know, things have been very tight lipped on that, but the practices we’ve done three or four practices and you’re marching out in the cold and the snow. Hopefully it’s going to be above freezing on Inauguration Day,” McConkey said.

When not serving in the Air Force Reserve, Col. McConkey is an ER doctor in the Triangle, an author, the founder of a non-profit organization – and his proudest titles: husband and father of three.

He’s excited to represent North Carolina next week.

“I grew up in a very small town in rural Nebraska and always looked up to military veterans,” he said. “Just to be a part and represent the military and something this historic is, you know, for me is pretty special.”

Bill Belichick’s first coaching staff at North Carolina continues to come together.

Longtime NFL special teams coach Mike Priefer and veteran SEC offensive line coach Will Friend are expected to finalize deals to join Belichick’s staff, sources told ESPN.

After coaching for nearly a decade in college, Priefer started in the NFL in 2002 and was a special teams coordinator in the NFL from 2006 to 2022. He is noted in Browns history as serving as the head coach in a January 2021 wild-card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is the franchise’s only postseason win since the 1994 season. Priefer stepped in for Kevin Stefanski, who watched the game at home with COVID.

Priefer was the special teams coordinator for the Chiefs (2006-08), Broncos (2009-10), Vikings (2011-18) and Browns (2019-22). He brings ties to the Naval Academy, something he shares with Belichick and his family. Priefer is a Navy graduate and served as a graduate assistant there.

Friend worked last season as Western Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. He brings strong recruiting ties in the South, having worked at Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State as the offensive line coach. He has also worked as the offensive coordinator at Colorado State and WKU.

Friend has a long history of developing linemen for the NFL.

With Priefer and Friend, there are six known members of Belichick’s staff, which includes longtime NFL coach Freddie Kitchens as the offensive coordinator and veteran NFL coach Stephen Belichick as the defensive coordinator.

The hires line up the objectives of Belichick, who has stressed that he wants to run the Tar Heels like a pro program.

Before taking the UNC job, Belichick told ESPN’s Pat McAfee that if he were to run a college program, it would be a “pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL.”

He added: “It would be a professional program. Training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at a college level and an education that would get the players ready for their career after football.”

Despite the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) extending the deadline, dozens of people in western North Carolina were left without shelter Tuesday night after being kicked out of the hotels FEMA provided as temporary housing for those impacted by Hurricane Helene.

On Monday, FEMA announced it was extending the deadline for its Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program for victims of Helene in western North Carolina.

Through the program, FEMA paid for hotel and motel rooms for thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Helene.

Tuesday just before 3:30 p.m., FEMA said on X that “current eligible occupants can remain in their lodging through the end of March 2025.”

But hours later, Senator Ted Budd posted this message on X:

“My office is hearing from dozens in WNC who have been kicked out of their hotels tonight, despite FEMA’s announcement yesterday that they were extending Transitional Sheltering Assistance through January 25.

“This is unacceptable. This needs to be fixed TONIGHT.”

Senator Thom Tillis also called out FEMA Tuesday night on X:

“My office has been helping dozens of Helene victims today who have been told their hotel vouchers expired despite not having a safe and livable home to go back to. Their homes have mold and broken windows…it’s 20 degrees tonight. Hotels are trying to help them, and a number of nonprofits are stepping up to pay for victims to stay in their hotels so FEMA has another day to get its act together.

“This is a total breakdown on the part of FEMA.”

This comes after Governor Josh Stein was in western North Carolina that same day.

On Tuesday, Stein posted a photo of himself eating a BBQ sandwich at JRO’s in Canton.

“My team and I have been working hard to maintain temporary housing assistance for people in western NC,” the governor said Monday, one day prior, on X.

Senator Budd said later on Tuesday that he had been in contact with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and encouraged those in need of assistance to contact his office at budd.senate.gov.

WRAL News reached out to FEMA, and this was the agency’s response:

“If any survivors still need housing assistance or feel their TSA eligibility ended in error, they should immediately call the FEMA helpline at 1-800-621-3362.”

If you were impacted by this situation and would like to share your experience with WRAL, go to wral.com/reportit.