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Having been forced to leave the Marine Corps in 1997 after
tearing a ligament in his right knee while running an obstacle
course at Kirtland Air Force Base, Sgt. Robert Begaye, felt certain
his days as a New Mexico National Guardsman were numbered last year
when he blew out his other knee.
His knee gave way during hand-to-hand combat training in Fort
Dix, N.J., just two weeks before he was scheduled to go to Iraq. The
injury prevented him from deploying with his Rio Rancho-based unit
and, he feared, would put his livelihood in jeopardy.
"I was wondering what was going to happen to me, and whether --
with this second injury -- the Army would just let me go," said
Begaye, 38, a longtime Albuquerque resident and father of four.
If that happened, the former construction worker -- who now had
two bad knees -- faced a difficult job search and uncertain future.
Fellow Guardsman Master Sgt. Fernando Vasquez, whose military
service began when he was drafted in 1970 and sent to Vietnam for 18
months, had similar worries when after 20 years in the Guard his
right hand was badly damaged during a combat mission in Afghanistan
in 2006.
When Vasquez was shipped back home, he wasn't sure whether the
Army would keep a wounded 56-year-old soldier.
Many wounded service members have shared those worries over the
years.
As recently as the Vietnam era, severely wounded soldiers were
ushered out of the military as quickly as possible and funneled to
an overburdened and unprepared Veterans Administration. Medical
outcomes weren't always the best.
Today, the military focuses more on getting their wounded healthy
again and, whenever possible, returning them to active duty.
That refocusing has led to a number of "wounded warrior"
programs, including one that now has Begaye and Vasquez employed in
their home town and still in uniform -- the Army's Community Based
Health Care Organization, or CBHCO.
Eddie Paulsgrove, a geologist for the Albuquerque District of the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and volunteer director of its Employees
With Disabilities program, learned about the CBHCO program about two
years ago. The former Army paratrooper, who has service-related
disabilities himself, soon sold his superiors on the program, which
allows recuperating soldiers to live at home, receive local medical
care and work in Defense Department jobs.
Besides relieving pressure on military medical facilities, the
program helps the soldiers adjust to new military or civilian jobs.
Vasquez, a native of Mexico who moved to New Mexico as an infant,
heard about the CBHCO program from his military caseworker in
February 2007 and, despite being unable to use his hand, checked
into the program.
A year later, he became the local Corps of Engineers' first CBHCO
participant.
"The neat thing about this program is it's a real confidence
builder," said Vasquez, who has a wife and three sons. "Not only do
you get the support of your family, but people here at the Corps are
really helpful."
Vasquez, who worked in accounting before joining the National
Guard in 1986, is now an internal review auditor for the Corps --
and says he looks forward to going to work each day.
Begaye, having recovered enough from his first knee injury to
pass the Guard's entry physical, joined the Guard in 2002, serving
as an infantryman. The second knee injury could have been a career-
ender.
"When I first came home (from Fort Dix) I was at the armory just
answering phones -- not exactly meaningful work or gainful
employment," Begaye said.
A few months later, he sat in on Paulsgrove's presentation about
the CBHCO program to National Guard members in Santa Fe. The two
quickly figured out that Begaye's civilian construction experience
dovetailed with the Corps' needs.
Today, Begaye oversees construction projects for the Corps,
including a multimillion-dollar expansion of the Guard's armory on
Wyoming Boulevard.
Getting into the program, Begaye said, "took away all the worry
of having to come back on the civilian side and look for a job with
two knee injuries."
The CBHCO program requires Vasquez and Begaye to work in a
Department of Defense facility and to report daily to a platoon
sergeant who keeps tabs on their medical progress. While in the
program, they are full-time, active duty Army National Guardsmen.
They receive military pay, but the Corps of Engineers provides the
job and other needs.
"One of the key things with the program is that your medical
rehabilitation comes first, and the job comes second," Vasquez said.
"When I wasn't able to use my hand, they were able to accommodate me
with voice-recognition software and a special keyboard that I could
use with the other hand," he said.
Bruce Hill, public information officer for the Corps' Albuquerque
district, said the program pays two-way dividends.
"We get to bring in highly qualified, well-trained individuals
who bring a certain diversity to the table because of their
(military) experiences," Hill said. And, he said, the soldiers get
local medical care, meaningful work and the opportunity to continue
their military career.
Paulsgrove said CBHCO participants can stay in the program "as
long as medically required," and that they may eventually be able to
return to their Guard or Reserve duties, retire from the military
with disability benefits, or transition into their CBHCO jobs as
civilians.
Vasquez, Begaye and Corps officials said they'd like to see the
program encompass other military jobs -- and perhaps civilian jobs.
"I would really like to see this expand," Paulsgrove said. "It is
it the right thing to do for our wounded warriors."
-ST_ART-
Caption: JIM THOMPSON/JOURNAL Master Sgt
Fernando Vasquez thought he might lose his Army job after being
injured in Afghanistan
Instead, he works as an auditor at the U
S
Army Corps of Engineers
; RICHARD PIPES/JOURNAL New Mexico National Guard Sgt
Robert Begaye oversees construction projects for the U
S
Army Corps of Engineers as part of a program that lets injured
soldiers work jobs in their home towns while undergoing treatment
and rehabilitation
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