FORT SILL, Okla. June 9, 2016 -- After eight years, and helping more than 2,100 injured Soldiers reintegrate back into the force, or into civilian life, the Fort Sill Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) deactivated June 1, during a ceremony at the Graham Resiliency Training Campus here.
Capt. Fermin Gonzalez, WTU battery commander, described the event as bittersweet.
"In my business, bad business is good business; we don't want injured and hurt wounded warriors; we want them online, ready to deploy," Gonzalez said.
Master of ceremonies Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Boles provided a history of the Army's WTUs, which were created because so many wounded Soldiers were returning from the war.
"To manage the growing population of war-related injuries, a formal medical holdover structure was established in June 2003," Boles said. In 2009, the Warrior Transition Command was created, as a major subordinate command of the Army Medical Command, to provide oversight and policy guidance for an enduring mission of taking care of wounded, ill and injured Soldiers.
Central to this care concept for the Soldier was a team approach, which included physicians, family members, nurse caseworkers, clergy and a squad leader, he said.
At its peak, the Fort Sill WTU had up to 210 Soldiers, Gonzalez said. They were at the unit anywhere from three months to two years depending on the extent of their injuries. The last three Soldiers left the WTU May 30.
Ten WTUs across the Army are being inactivated because there are fewer wounded Soldiers with the drawdown of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Boles said.
Col. Kenneth Lemons, Reynolds Army Community Hospital commander, said the ceremony was a celebration of the Fort Sill WTU, which has been a place of healing, growth and restoration.
"The legacy of the Warrior Transition Unit and its commitment to healing, lives on in the lives of the Soldiers and families they have touched," the colonel said.
Lemons thanked the WTU cadre, medical staff, clergy, and supporters and donors. He also praised Gonzalez and the WTU's 1st Sgt. Maria Escobedo.
He noted that the captain was a field artillery officer, without a medical background.
Gonzalez oversaw the healing and transition of the Soldiers, some with very complex medical conditions, Lemons said.
"It's not an easy task under the best of circumstances, let alone in a time of uncertainty as the unit underwent its inactivation preparation," Lemons said. Gonzalez always ensured the needs of the Soldiers were met, right down to the last Soldier assigned.
The RACH commander said Escobedo was pulled from a deployment with the 75th Field Artillery Brigade to become the WTU first sergeant.
"She has done a superior job ensuring all the warriors in transition were taken care of," Lemons said. She often made long road trips to visit Soldiers, and to assist family members to ensure the Soldiers received the outstanding care they deserved.
The Fort Sill WTU was ranked as being No. 2 in the Army, Gonzalez said.
Former Army specialist Jason Self, of McAlester, Okla., returned here for the ceremony. He had spent 11 months at the WTU in 2008, recovering from injuries he suffered in Iraq.
"The way the Warrior Transition Unit works was like a family atmosphere," Self said. "The cadre was always great, we always did things together, the case manager helped me keep track of my appointments -- it was what I really needed."
Self now works as Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin's military and veterans representative in McAlester.
During the ceremony, Gonzalez and Escobedo retired the company guidon as it was held by Staff Sgt. Alandus Ray.
Gonzalez said if the Fort Sill WTU ever needed to be reactivated it could do so easily. Many of the WTU staff are now working at RACH and could return.
"We could 'Rise Again, Fight Again,' just like the WTU motto," he said.
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