Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Cupp | New Bern, N.C., native Staff Sgt. Anthony Hill (right), a tanker and squad leader for...... read more read more
NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY BETHESDA, Md. – With a motto that reads “heal, educate, transition” as their mantra, outpatient squad leaders for the Warrior Transition Brigade-National Capital Region at both NSAB and Fort Belvoir, Virginia, work to ease some of the headaches that wounded, ill or injured (WII) Soldiers experience as they prepare to transition either back to duty or to the civilian world.
In many cases, troops from the combat zone or other duty
stations throughout the world will arrive to a Warrior Transition Unit, facing lengthy stays for further medical care and long recovery times before they can transition, so squad leaders are assigned to assist them in their daily tasks.
“We help Soldiers who have medical issues and may not be able to take care of themselves and need assistance with doing their administrative paperwork to ease their transition either back to duty or the civilian world,” said Altamont, N.Y. native, Staff Sgt. Matthew Lindell, an infantryman and squad leader for Troop A, WTB-NCR. “We make sure they make it to their medical appointments on time and can also assist them with everything from leave forms to retirement issues or something as simple as getting their enlisted record briefs updated.”
“We also give the Soldiers guidance and counseling, making sure they are good financially, that their housing is good and that they are getting their pay as well as making sure that they have a good family support system,” added Lincoln, Rhode Island native, Staff Sgt. Kevin Forkin, an infantryman and squad leader for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, WTB-NCR. “Sometimes Soldiers come here with severe injuries, so we will escort them to appointments and if they ever have any problems, we will stay as late as it takes to get them fixed.”
Squad leaders for WTB-NCR work closely with members of a Soldier’s care team to include social workers, nurse case managers, transition coordinators and other military WTU cadre to assist wounded warriors with their transition which may include everything from linking them with people who can help them with Veteran Administration benefits, future career opportunities, educational opportunities or internships among many other needs.
“We can help the Soldier get signed up for the Army Career and Alumni Program which helps them with a smooth transition back to civilian life,” said Lindell. “We can also assist them in finding their VA representatives, sending them to their transition coordinators, assisting them with finding out about various adaptive sports programs or any of the other many assets that we have out there.”
For troops who plan to return to duty, squad leaders can assist them in getting prepared for promotion boards and eventually get them ready for physical fitness tests.
As troops recover, squad leaders promote recreational trips for the WII Soldiers which Lindell said can be very important in preventing Soldiers from isolating themselves in their rooms and easing the stress or depression that may result from being a patient in a WTU.
“We try to get them out on trips so they can get back into society because some individuals can’t take the initiative any more to get themselves back out there so they can have a normal civilian life,” said Lindell. “The trips are designed to help them overcome some of the anxiety they may have about being out in crowds and to help them heal some of their battle scars.”
The WTU squad leaders said they take special care in dealing with Soldiers who are healing.
“You have to have compassion,” said Lindell, who himself has spent three tours of duty deployed to Iraq and two tours to Afghanistan. “You have to treat these troops with more dignity than you would someone in any other type of unit.”
“How we treat WII Soldiers boils down to learning to be empathetic to what they are going through,” said Forkin, who has deployed to one combat tour to Afghanistan and once to Haiti in support of disaster relief operations. “A lot of the squad leaders here came from the infantry, so we have to learn how to tone it down and whether you’re just coming out of a drill sergeant background or a regular infantry unit, you have to take a step back. Some of our troops may be suffering from post traumatic stress or dealing with a lot of different issues, so you learn to make moral, ethical decisions with the troops in mind and in that way, you build a relationship of trust with that Soldier.”
For Chino Valley, Arizona native, Spc. Jack Moneymaker, an airborne infantryman and Soldier in transition with Troop B, WTB-NCR, who was involved in an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan on November 24, 2014, having a squad leader has helped guide him through the transition process.
“My squad leader has been great and does an excellent job of helping me heal and transition by not micromanaging what I do on a daily basis,” said Moneymaker. “He constantly keeps me informed of appointments and aware, but is also good at treating me like an adult which has been very important for me as I heal.”
“He helps to ease my mind as he advocates for me which eases a lot of headaches with the administrative paperwork and other things needed for transition,” added Moneymaker.
Texarkana, Texas native, Spc. Steven Banko, an infantryman with Trp. B, WTB-NCR, who was injured in a construction accident in Afghanistan in 2014, echoed many
of Moneymaker’s sentiments.
“It’s helpful because my squad leader really does take care of Soldiers and he does what he’s supposed to do,” said Banko. “I feel like I have enough to do with dealing with appointments and therapy on a daily basis so everything squad leaders help us with are just one less thing that I have to worry about.”
Squad leaders who care for WII Soldiers said that although they have a challenging job, it is one of the most rewarding experiences of their career.
“The satisfying part of the job for me is seeing Soldiers successfully transitioning out of the military or transitioning back to duty, either getting back in the fight or doing good things in the civilian world,” said Forkin. “That’s when we know we’ve been successful with our goal to heal, educate and transition.”
“Sometimes Soldiers come to you with a challenging problem that you may have never heard of before in all your time in the military and you may wonder ‘how in the world could this have possibly happened,’” said Lindell. “But then, when you’re able to solve that complicated issue for the troop and see the relief on their face, it really gives you peace and that’s my reward and that’s why I do this.”
There are currently about 80 squad leaders serving WII troops in the WTB-NCR at both NSAB and Fort Belvoir.
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 10.08.2015 16:10 |
| Story ID: | 178506 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Hometown: | ALTAMONT, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Hometown: | CHINO VALLEY, ARIZONA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | LINCOLN, RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Hometown: | NEW BERN, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, US |
| Hometown: | TEXARKANA, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 327 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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