Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Adrian Borunda | Jace Badia, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, came to to U.S. Naval Station...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - Volunteers prep air tanks, regulators, wet suits, goggles and gloves at the marina on U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in preparation for a group of divers new to the island, the Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba.
Jace Badia is among those who came to dive in the pristine waters of GTMO. The 6-foot-2 Badia, an imposing figure at first glance, sports a long jet black beard that spans ear to ear, and an aura that demands a certain level of respect.
Badia, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, lost his left leg in an improvised explosive device blast in 2006.
“Nov. 11 we were on patrol conducting route clearance and we got hit by a roadside bomb,” Badia said. “The blast was an incredibly large blast and threw the M2 Bradley several feet in the air. It weighs 40 tons; it takes a lot of power to do that.”
In the ensuing chaos Badia lost part of his leg above the knee and had his right leg severely wounded. But, the explosion was only the beginning of his worries.
“I had to get pulled back and get medically evacuated, a lot of gunfire was going on at the time,” Badia said. “I was in a Bradley … so 25-mm rounds were going off at the same time. It was a pretty surreal experience, more toward the fantastic than the bad because it was just so amazing to have everyone just jump in and fix me up and at the same time kicking (butt).”
He was quickly moved from combat theater to recovery and started his long road to rehabilitation and eventually, scuba diving.
“I woke up Nov. 18 at Walter Reed. I spent the next 29 months in a wheel chair with an external fixator on my right leg,” Badia said. “That was an incredibly hard time, but I got over it, got passed it.”
He had to relearn a lot and did so well enough to continue to serve his country.
“I learned how to walk, learned how to run, learned how to work out and learned how to pass a PT test,” Badia said. “I stayed active, and reclassified from infantry to counter intelligence and did two more deployments.”
Part of Service member’s recovery is therapy. It was back in 2007 that John Thompson started the SUDS non-profit organization.
“I was at Walter Reed from 2006 to 2010 and that’s where I think I was first exposed to SUDS, John Thompson runs the nonprofit organization,” Badia said.
Although Badia wanted to get in the pool and learn, his injuries prevented him from attending the SUDS courses until 2010, when he completed his in pool requirements and was finally certified in St. Johns during a SUDS trip there.
“Jace was my student on a trip to St. Johns in 2010 where he completed his certification, diving has really piqued his interest,” Thompson said. “About a year ago he came down to Puerto Rico where I live and he spent a week with me there and he completed his advanced open water certification there.”
Now he is here in GTMO finishing up his rescue diver certification.
“It’s pretty inspiring to see an above the knee amputee complete his rescue divers course,” Thompson said. “Sometimes I wonder if I get more out of this than they do.”
Badia retired from the military in 2013 and currently lives in Augusta, Georgia
“It blows my mind every time I go down there and watch whatever is down there,” he said. “As it is right now my goal is to become a wreck diver then a master diver as soon as I get done with this rescue diver. Maybe down the line I will get a job as a master diver.”
For him its second nature now to be in the water, “in completely different ecosystem,” he said.
“it’s an experience that you’ll never forget, it’s an experience that you’ll learn to love and that you will want to do over and over again, YOLO!,” he said with a giant grin and hearty laugh after.
As for his diving in the GTMO waters and interaction with the GTMO life here he said it was a place he’d love to come back to.
“This place is fantastic!” he exclaimed. “It’s a great place and I’m going to tell my brother that if he doesn’t come here he’s an idiot, he’s in the navy.”
That sense of humor and confidence is what Thompson loves seeing at the end of every trip.
“Yes we focus on diving but that’s not what it’s all about, it’s about helping them recover and getting their self confidence back up,” Thompson said.
The aura that Jace projects is one of self respect and confidence but also of man that loves to laugh with his friends and hi-five strangers hello.
“Jace was bit reserved that first day in St. Johns five years ago, now he’s not shy…he can definitely ham it up, he’s a character,” Thompson said.
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2015 08:32 |
| Story ID: | 155222 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Hometown: | AUGUSTA, GA, US |
| Hometown: | TAMPA, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 303 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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