WASHINGTON, D.C. (6/29/09) -- Wounded Soldiers sent home from overseas are greeted by their own before they are even off the plane at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
The Army's wounded are welcomed back to the country by a team of three Soldiers from the U.S. Army Military District of Washington: the Medical Evacuation to CONUS Hospitals team.
Col. James Conaway, Master Sgt. Jon Taylor of the District of Columbia Army National Guard and Master Sgt. Juan Reyna of the Texas Army National Guard act as advocates and liaisons for wounded Soldiers transitioning back to the United States.
"We help to coordinate, communicate and just take care of all the wounded warriors that come back from Landstuhl and Ramstein here to the continental United States," said Conaway, the team chief.
While the Air Force medical team cares for the Soldiers, the Medical Evacuation team provides the Army's wounded with support and answers to questions.
"Our job, as a team of senior liaisons, is to make sure that every Army Soldier gets a proper greeting, gets proper care, gets an opportunity to bounce information off of us and then we hand those folks off from us to the warrior transition units," Conaway said.
Soldiers account for about 80 percent of the returning casualties, but they also have the largest presence overseas, Conaway said.
Deputy Team Chief Taylor explained part of the team's job is to give the wounded back a sense of being a part of something larger.
While Soldiers are healthy and active, they are a part of teams, brigades, divisions, etc. But, the connection changes once an injury occurs, Taylor said.
"You're an integrated piece until you get hurt," he said. "Then you're pulled away from the rest of those pieces and you're kind of out there on your own."
In 2004, the director of the Army Staff determined that a larger Army presence was needed to welcome home the wounded, according to Taylor, who was on the team at its conception.
The team responds three times a week to meet every plane carrying wounded warriors home. Before the plane even lands, every Soldier's next destination is mapped out by the teams, said Reyna, the team noncommissioned officer in charge.
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