|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don't waste your time trying to find the recruiter near you. Let us do the work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Station Optometrist Shaped Up to Join Navy
|
Story Sgt. David A. Bryant
December 8, 2003
|
Thinking
about the Marines?
It's a big decision. Wondering
about boot camp, Marine Corps physical fitness and
life in America's most elite fighting force? Get
free information without obligation - no bull,
no bias and no pressure - from Military.com.
|
|
|
|
Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, AZ - Marines
or sailors who have had to get their eyes checked recently have probably
been checked by Lt. Cmdr. Paul Andre, station optometrist. They may have
learned a lot about how the eyes work during their exam, and probably left
with a favorable impression of not only the way Andre works, but of the
man himself.
By his appearance, Andre is young, clean-cut, in great physical shape, and
his love of his job and the military seems to shine from his very personality.
Most Marines would probably guess him to be a Naval Academy graduate, or
possibly a college reserve officer training corps student who went straight
into his chosen profession after receiving his commission as a naval officer.
So it may come as quite a shock to learn that he originally had no intention
whatsoever of joining the military. It could also be shocking to learn he
was overweight, out of shape, had hair down below the middle of his back,
wore a beard, put himself through ten years of college and was in private
practice as an optometrist for three years before deciding to join the Navy
shortly before he turned 30.
All of which may be rather difficult to believe, especially when a chance
question about him at the station medical facility will have any corpsman
there tell all about how Andre is a physical training monster. He's at the
gym almost every morning, runs almost every day, quit smoking and stopped
drinking during officer candidate school and is an all-around health activist.
So what could cause such a drastic change?
"I just wasn't happy," Andre said. "I was making more money as a civilian,
but after the cost of malpractice insurance (required to practice), paying
off all of my student loans and the cost of continuing education, that became
irrelevant. Besides, money's not worth anything if you're not happy, and
I wasn't."
Optometrists are vital throughout the military, and do extraordinary work for soldiers and others around the globe. This Army optometrist is working on a patient from Uganda.
|
|
The patients he was seeing as a civilian weren't
very appreciative of what he did, either, he said. Whenever problems cropped
up, whether with a patient, payments or with problems around the office
that just needed fixing, there was no completion - they would drag on and
never quite get fixed.
So one day he walked into a Navy recruiter's office and started the paperwork
to become a Naval doctor. "It was a big life change," Andre said. "I had
always had long hair and I was about ten to 12 pounds overweight. It took
me 18 minutes to run my fitness test (a one-and-a-half-mile run) in officer
candidate school, and it was when I was huffing and puffing along there
that I decided I needed to make a change in my health habits."
So he persevered, losing a total of 55 pounds, and now completes his run
in about ten minutes, he said. He is currently training with his optometry
corpsman to run a marathon in San Diego.
"I was shocked when I found out about the way he was before he came in,"
said Lt. Julie Ritner, a Navy flight surgeon. "It's hard to ever see him
being that way. From what I know of his former life, he was very non-conformist,
and the military is very regimented. I can't see him putting the two together,
but he's really done very well at it."
As a doctor, Ritner described Andre as very professional and thorough with
his patients. As a person, she said he's personable and approachable.
|
He
relates well to people, and while he keeps his professionalism as a Navy
officer at all times, he doesn't allow his rank to make him unapproachable,
especially to junior enlisted.
"The most interesting thing about him is seeing the way he is now, compared
to how he was then," she said. "You would never be able to tell. People
who aren't active develop habits of inactivity, and it takes a lot of drive
to change that. It's sort of like inertia - an object in motion tends to
stay in motion, while an object at rest tends to stay at rest - and for
anyone to break out of that routine is incredible."
Although getting into shape wasn't the original reason for joining the Navy,
it did become an important part of his new career, Andre said. The main
reason was to get away from doing the same thing every day. The military
provided more versatility, the chance to travel and a chance to get out
and meet new people.
"In private practice, nothing really changes; you never get the chance to
go up to that next level," he said. "And the military doesn't have the problems
with completion, either. When something needs doing, it gets resolved."
Andre doesn't regret leaving private practice one bit, he said. He enjoys
the military, and wouldn't trade the experience for anything.
"In fact, I'm healthier now at 37 than I was at 23," Andre said. "I wasn't
as health conscious. I think a lot of doctors are that way; they know what
they need to do, but just don't have the time to do it."
"He's a very motivating and unique individual," Ritner said. "He's fun to
be around, and I think most anyone who knows him would say that of him."
Andre intends to transfer later to take over the optometry department at
a larger unit. The leadership and administrative experience will help greatly
when he is ready for promotion to commander. And while his new command will
benefit from having him, the medical facility here won't be the same without
him.
© 2003 U.S. Marine Corps. All opinions
expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect
those of Military.com.
Use
your GI Bill benefits to get ahead. Get free information from military-friendly
schools.
|
|
|
|
|
|
EDUCATION
CENTER
Further your career with
education! Use your GI Bill and Tuition Assistance
benefits. Find schools that want you!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USE
YOUR VA LOAN BENEFIT
Mortgage rates are at
30-year lows–now's the time to consider
using your VA home loan. Get pre-approved!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
