After two weeks at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) I was flown to Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC) and stayed there for only three days. Even though getting shot was a terrible experience, there were (and still are) many positives. At each hospital there was an outpouring of support from visitors, mail, e-mail and Facebook messages. Friends, family and colleagues showed me that they were behind me in my recovery. My care was excellent at each hospital; however, I think that my nurses were always happy to see me go.

At Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) I questioned my nurses at every turn. If they said I could not do something, I wanted to know why. This became so frustrating to one nurse that she decided to ask me a series of easy questions that she knew that I would get right. After answering all of the questions correctly she said, “so you seem to know everything, why don’t you take over your own care?” To which I replied, “well sweetheart I did go to Union College and you went to Quinnipiac, so of course I am going to question everything you say.” (Union College is a small college in upstate NY while Quinnipiac University is a small university located in CT. Both schools are rivals.). I also routinely told the nurses that “ I am a Green Beret and I am going to do whatever the fuck I want, whenever I want.” Surprisingly, this did not go over very well.

When I was 14 years old I saw a video about Green Beret selection and training. After watching the video, I had no clue what Green Berets did, however, I was fascinated at how intense the selection and training was. I was also impressed at the tight knit brotherhood that was forged during these seemingly barbaric training simulations. From that point on, I made it my mission to be one of the select few that has had the honor of wearing the Green Beret.

The intense selection and training in the Special Forces Qualification Course lived up to my expectations and then some. The Course tested me mentally and physically and showed me that I could do things that I once thought to be impossible. The camaraderie between the students also exceeded my expectations. We were soldiers brought together from every corner of the country with representation of every ethnic group and socioeconomic class. There were the rich and poor, northerners and southerners, atheists and believers, GED-holders and master’s degree-holders of all ethnicities.However, despite our differences we banded together to accomplish our mission.

When I made it to my Special Forces team, I joined an even tighter fraternity. My teammates became my brothers and I knew that I could rely on them for anything. While deployed in Afghanistan, my philosophy was “There are 12 men on this team, therefore, there are 11 men whose lives are more important than mine.” Every person on my team lived by this selfless philosophy.