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Wounded Warriors ready to get back into fight

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alexandria Mosness
  • Air Forces Central Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The men and women are dressed in an array of military attire highlighting the fact that each one comes from all walks of the military. Although, they might have differences, they have a common bond that unites them - their goal to get healthy and return to the fight.

The Inter-Theater Care Program, located at the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, provides medical services for servicemembers who have battle injuries and can recover in approximately 30 days. If they can't get back on their feet and down range in 30 days, they are sent to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany.

"The program has been around for five years and is the only one in existence throughout the area of responsibility," said Staff Sgt. Johnathan Miranda, ITCP non-commissioned officer in charge. "The goal of the program is to provide them surgery, see the doctor, and get them recuperated. We have a 97 percent return to duty rate."

With a short time to get the servicemember better, the process of healing starts automatically.

"We pick up the patients from the flightline," said Miranda who is deployed from Langley Air Force Base, Va. "They are generally coming from smaller forward operating bases or somewhere in Afghanistan. They are briefed on the program and are generally seen the next day. The majority of surgeries are performed within 48 hours of the patient's arrival."

After the initial surgery, the remaining time is spent in physical therapy and recuperation.

"We have 30 days to get them better," he said. "About 99 percent are from Afghanistan and approximately 80 percent are Army, 10 percent Navy, and five percent for both Air Force and Marines."

While the servicemembers are getting the medical treatment they need, most of the time they are itching to get back to their unit.

"We were on the way into country when I got sick," said Army Spc. Dave Watts, 4th Brigade, 1st Armored Division. "I am ready to get going. I volunteered for this deployment, and I am bummed that I am back here. The people with the ITCP have been great. Anything we want, they do everything they can to get it."

"When folks get sent out of theatre or sent home, the units have to pick up the slack," said Miranda.. "They don't want to leave their unit behind."

"I have been away from my team since early July," saidWatts . "I am on a 12-man security forces advice and assisting team. The goal is to advise and assist Afghan as the U.S. forces step back. So being away is hard on a small team."

A lot of the men and women don't want to go home without finishing their job, Miranda reiterated. So it is hard for them to be here while their unit is still downrange.

"So, they talk to me and I talk to them," said Miranda, a Camden, New York native. "They always ask, 'When am I going to get back?' They always wonder. They all want to go back. The young guys push hard to return."

Although Miranda works in the emergency room at home station, he said the change of pace is a lot different, but the work he is doing here "is more rewarding."

"The best part is getting to know these folks," he said. "I get to see them thirty days at a time. It's nice to give them mentoring, as well as help them get better."

And there are those patients that stick out more to Miranda than others.

The patient whose story affected Miranda the most was an Army private first class infrantryman who came through and had been hit with an RPG and hit with the shrapnel in the side of his face, said Miranda. He had two big shrapnel wounds in his arm.

"Before he came here, he was bounced to three different hospitals," Miranda said. "He was in really good spirits. He wanted to get healed up and back to his men."

This is the same mentality that many of the wounded warriors share.

"I've been here for almost a month, and it has been absolutely positive," said Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Ivan Esau, JAG senior enlisted advisor Afghani Administrator detention directive, who is deployed from Robins AFB, Ga., and is currently at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

While thirty days might seem short for some, the patients of the ITCP find it much longer when they are away from their unit. The enthusiasm of the servicemebers to get back into the fight can be best described by the young Army specialist from Ft. Bliss, Texas.

"I'm ready to go!" Watts exclaimed