"Hold your breath" until the last minute

Despite his young age, Thang has been honored three times to be selected to be on the list of teams deploying Internet connections for US political delegations to Vietnam, all of which include VIP names such as President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden , Vice President Kamala Harris, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

According to the young man born in 1994, although he has deployed for many VIP customers, the times serving American politicians always leave deep impressions and can be said to be "breathtaking" until the last minute. The White House and the US Embassy always have very high requirements for the quality of private Internet channels, requiring the deployment team to always maintain a state of high concentration. Not only that, all information is highly confidential and is only updated at the last minute, so it is always necessary to react quickly, deploy urgently and carefully prepare backup plans.

“I still remember the first time I served the US Presidential delegation was in 2017 at the APEC Summit Week in Da Nang . My company was selected to provide Internet access for the event locations and I was also lucky to be on the deployment team.

The years of hard work at the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications, the nights of studying for international technical certificates and especially the guidance from experienced colleagues gave me the opportunity to serve in an international event at a very young age". Thang cannot forget the feelings of surprise, excitement and pride when he was selected for the extremely strict list.

For Thang, special occasions serving the US Presidential delegation are associated with the word “urgent”. “The first time I experienced a working atmosphere so focused and urgent that it was “suffocating” was at the US-North Korea Summit in 2019.

At that time, the International Press Center for hundreds of major news agencies in the world suddenly changed its location from Melia Hotel to the Vietnam - Soviet Union Friendship Palace in Hanoi even though all equipment had been installed and ready.

AT&T, the telecommunications company assigned by the White House to work with NetNam during the Conference, required us to move and deploy within 2 hours. It was truly a war and no mistakes were allowed,” Thang shared.

Do Quang Thang (middle) took a souvenir photo with AT&T representative at the 2019 US-North Korea Summit (Photo: NetNam)

However, the most "stormy" deployment memory of the guy must be mentioned as the milestone in mid-2021 when for two consecutive months Vietnam welcomed high-ranking US leaders, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris, to visit and work in Vietnam.

At that time, the Covid-19 epidemic was getting worse, the Internet deployment team encountered many difficulties in moving, preparing equipment and supplies as well as ensuring health to deploy a series of important events. Being on duty 24/7, travel documents, protective clothing, rapid testing... are all things that Thang and his colleagues at NetNam network will never forget.

Thang and colleagues deploy the Internet during the Covid period in 2021 (Photo: NetNam)

Friendships across borders

In return for the sweat dripping from the protective layer, the 4pm lunches, or the pounding heart and trembling legs from nervousness, Thang finds himself receiving too much luck and opportunities, including both career and relationships.

Although the US always has high rules and requirements at work and can be said to be the most "difficult" in the world, after the missions are completed, the service staff in the US delegation are friendly and close friends. They always give sincere compliments and encouragement to the deployment team from Vietnam after each successful event.

“The US side has separate areas for Vietnamese employees to take souvenir photos and make documents. At the event, I was lucky to meet and interact with a few engineer friends from the largest telecommunications company in the US, AT&T. We became friends on social media and still keep in touch until now. The CNN reporters I met also gave a lot of compliments to Vietnam's organization,” Thang shared.

Aspiration of young Vietnamese people to reach international level

When asked how he felt about receiving such a great honor, Thang said: “Previously, the two words “President” or images of the US Secret Service were only seen in movies and on television. Unexpectedly, shortly after graduating and working at NetNam, the most distant things appeared before his eyes. Not once but many times during his work.”

Due to the nature of providing services to high-end hotels in Vietnam as well as VIP customers such as embassies of various countries, the network that Thang works for has the opportunity to be prioritized for international events.

Not only US Presidents come to Vietnam, but also every time international politicians visit, Thang and his colleagues almost always have the opportunity to contribute a small part. Most recently, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Vietnam in June 2023 or the famous concert of Blackpink in Hanoi in August 2023 were all "huge" events that challenged the young man.

The 9x engineer and his colleagues completed the task of deploying a transmission line for the delegation of US President Joe Biden on September 10-11 (Photo: NetNam)

Being selected to serve in major events, the 9X guy believes that this is not only his duty but also an opportunity to bring the image of Vietnamese people who are dedicated, dynamic, have professional capacity and good foreign language skills to international delegations. There are difficulties and pressures, but these are still proud milestones in the career of the young engineer.

Thang and representatives of the deployment team received a Certificate of Merit from the White House for their deployment efforts during President Joe Biden's visit to Vietnam (Photo: NetNam)

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