Photo By Seaman Matthew Hobson | John Herren mentors Army Sgt. 1st Class Charles Cole in the Warrior Cafe June 1....... read more read more
Right now, Army Pfc. Tyler McGibbon has his eyes set on recovering from injuries he sustained when his Humvee rolled over in Kuwait in December 2014, which put him in a coma.
McGibbon, who woke up from the coma three months after his accident, still has a long road of recovery ahead of him as he goes to several different therapies every day at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC). He’s had to re-learn how to walk, how to talk and how to eat. But McGibbon also has his eyes set on making future plans thanks to connections he’s made through the Wounded Warrior Mentor Program.
One of McGibbon’s mentors has a traumatic brain injury like he does, so the mentor has been able to guide McGibbon on things he should be doing. His father and non-medical attendant George McGibbon said they came into this situation blind, not knowing anything they should be doing, but said the mentors have been “phenomenal” in helping them out.
“People say that (mentors) can shed some light,” Tyler McGibbon said. “They were the light.”
There are about 175 mentors who work with the wounded, ill, and injured at WRNMMC and Fort Belvoir. All of them have had some form of military experience and they bring that experience to help those wounded, ill and injured service members plan for the next phase in their lives.
The Wounded Warrior Mentor Program was started in 2004 by four members of the West Point Class of 1958, spearheaded by Lee Miller and included Pete Brintnall, John Herren and Bob Tredway.
“We saw a gap, and the gap was that everyone was doing everything for Wounded Warriors – taking them to ball games, taking them out for golf, ski trips and scuba diving trips, but nobody was looking after them as far as ‘What are you going to do for the rest of your life?’” Miller said. “They have to get a new profession.”
Many times, a wounded, ill or injured service member doesn’t know what they want to do next, he said.
“Sometimes, but not all of the time when we meet people in the hall out here,” Miller said of how they assist service members in Building 62 on Wednesdays, “We’ll ask them, ‘What do you want to do for the rest of your life?’ They’ll respond, ‘I don’t have a clue sir.’ That’s where we start.”
He said they strongly encourage service members to take advantage of education opportunities and the program has contacts to help set them up with internships in several government agencies. The mentors will help create and review resumes and can put them in touch with several different subject matter experts, depending on the service member’s interests.
“We provide them with a whole bunch of opportunities because we’re tied into all these organizations, then we steer them and let them pick what they want to do,” Miller said.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Tonia Chestnut first got involved with the program when she was at Fort Belvoir and continued with her mentor when she came to receive treatment at WRNMMC.
Her 15-year Army career is about to end as she is going through the medical board process. Her mentor has helped her with her resumé and encouraged her to pursue her education. She’s taking online courses, wants to pursue an MBA and is looking to complete an internship.
She said the mentorship program has helped her a lot.
“As long as you’re open with them and you tell them what’s going on and what’s your story, they have a lot of very good information that helps you,” Chestnut said.
Miller and other mentors are available in the Bldg. 62 hallway outside the Warrior Café every Wednesday, and more information on the program is available online at wwmp.us. Mentors are matched up with service members after an initial form is filled out to find out similar interests.
“We will match them up with their interests and try to get some commonality – maybe the units they served in – or something they can have as an icebreaker when they meet for the first time,” Miller said.
Army Maj. Anne Barlieb came to WRNMMC with multiple medical conditions and found the Wounded Warrior Mentor Program after meeting Miller in Bldg. 62, where he explained the purpose of the program to her.
She became interested in the entrepreneurship aspect as she is thinking about becoming a beekeeper. Her medical conditions limit her job prospects as she said she can’t work full-time and she found beekeeping to not be labor-intensive.
“They put me in touch with a beekeeper to learn and have been encouraging me to learn about pursuing personal interest and hobbies and life beyond the military,” Barlieb said.
Her mentors have also helped walk her through the medical board process. She said they know what information to collect and have helped explain her rights.
“It’s a very overwhelming process … it’s just good to have another set of eyes and another set of ears to bounce ideas off of,” Barlieb said.
The mentorship program connected retired Army Capt. Jay Strojnowski to a graduate degree program in new media photojournalism. He said he came to WRNMMC in 2013 due to a “physical and mental collapse,” and he connected to the Wounded Warrior Mentor Program a year later.
“Once I got myself stabilized and in a position where I was no longer hyper-vigilant and depressed, I was able to refocus to some degree,” he said. “I wanted to leverage the GI Bill and vocational rehabilitation program to let me attend school. School isn’t particularly stressful – nothing like 28 trips to Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s something that I sought out.”
Through his master’s program, Strojnowski made a documentary about “the earth’s healing power on a combat veteran,” as well as made film vignettes for the mentorship program where service members explain how the program has helped them.
Strojnowski said what’s impressed him about the mentors is their willingness to give back and donate their time and effort to help service members like himself.
McGibbon, who isn’t expected to get out of the Army until next year, also expressed his gratitude for the mentors.
“I’m very, very, very, very beyond – I’m very thankful that they spend their time here,” McGibbon said.
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2016 11:25 |
| Story ID: | 199759 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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