Army Brigade surgeon Maj. Burton Newman knows being a medical doctor in a war-torn country means more than healing physical wounds.

It's also about helping soldiers cope with the stresses of life and building bonds with the locals.

Newman, who lives in Kentucky but calls Tallahassee home, is serving his first deployment in Afghanistan, where he has not only helped create a program to keep soldiers mentally tough, but has been teaching Afghan doctors how to better serve their people.

"Our resiliency program holds classes twice monthly for soldiers exposed to high levels of combat stress, such as their buddies killed in combat and direct contact with the enemy (gun fights)," Newman said in an e-mail.

Newman, 38, is serving with the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division in the southeastern portion of Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. He is also a member of the 506th Infantry Regiment, the storied unit made famous by the HBO series "Band of Brothers."

The resiliency program, which he and four others developed before his deployment in August, is called Toccoa Tough in honor of the Georgia town where the Band of Brothers first took their airborne training.

Held every two weeks, about 20 of the more than 3,000 soldiers serving at one of 18 outposts attend the four-day seminar at a time.

"We give our soldiers instruction on how to be resilient by investing daily in physical, mental, emotional, relation and spiritual wellness with a goal that they will return from deployment better spouses, mothers, fathers and friends," Newman said.

The seminar ends with a "stress shoot" exercise where attendees are physically stressed and then asked to hit targets with their rifles by using some of the destressing techniques learned in the class, including deep breathing, visualization and progressive muscle relaxation.

"As a physician, you see a lot of patterns people get into: nutrition, sleep habits, relationship problems. This is an opportunity to try and give some younger people some thoughts on how to live a little bit more of a holistic life," he said.

Read more:

Army surgeon helps deployed soldiers dealing with stress | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrathttp://www.tallahassee.com/article/20110223/NEWS01/102230321/Army-surgeon-helps-deployed-soldiers-dealing-with-stress#ixzz1F08ctHcr

(Story taken from Tallahassee Democrat February 23, 2011)

Capt. Curt Owens from the 3/485^th Battalion, 1^st Brigade, 98^th Division was recently selected as the 2009 Maj. Gen. Strom Thurmond Outstanding Army Junior Officer Award recipient, and for those who work with him such as Capt. Dennis Marshall, his current company commander, the award was no surprise. Owens is currently mobilized at Fort Benning where he is serving as Basic Officer Leaders Course (BOLC) II, Platoon Mentor.  As a platoon mentor, Owens counsels and oversees training for the lieutenants in 4th Platoon, often in a "big brother" capacity, said Owens' company commander Capt. Dennis Marshall.  "He teaches, coaches and mentors the lieutenants as they go through the seven-week leadership course here," he said. "He gives them a true measure of their leadership ability. He's someone for them to look up to and say, Hey, I want to be like him someday.  I've known him since 2000," Marshall said. "We went to Infantry Officer Basic together, and it doesn't surprise me in the least that he won it.  It's indicative of leadership traits he showed as a lieutenant in the Infantry Officer Basic Course. When he was in a leadership position, you knew he was in charge. Others don't always show those dynamics of leadership at that early stage in their career."

The Maj. Gen. Strom Thurmond Outstanding Army Junior Officer Award program was established to annually recognize the achievements and dedicated service of Army Junior Officer members of the Reserve Officers Association while contributing to the following desirable activities: increasing interaction between the ARNG, RSCs/GOCOMs and ROA Departments, enhancing communication among ROA Army Affairs Section, Department Army Vice Presidents, Junior Vice Presidents and Junior Officer members and enhancing and encouraging membership and participation in ROA by Junior Officers.

Owens has truly excelled at these tasks because for Owens, serving in the Army Reserve is about just that: service. "It's been rewarding because it's a way to serve the country, specifically during these times when we're relying so heavily on our Army. I love doing it," said Owens, who was named the Army Reserve Outstanding Junior Officer of the Year on Feb. 1.

Owens joined the Army Reserve in 1992. "I had gone to college for a year and needed a little more structured environment, so I enlisted," he said. "My grades didn't reflect someone who was ready to excel academically at the college level."  With plans for business already on the horizon, Owens chose the Reserve so he could pursue a civilian career. Now, he is a co-owner of a software firm that develops applications for law enforcement. "The Reserve prides itself on being citizen-Soldiers, and that's kind of how I see myself, to serve when my country calls and then return to my civilian business," he said.  His country has called him twice so far in his career.  In conjunction with his current assignment, Owens also deployed to Iraq for a 15-month deployment. 

When not mobilized to serve overseas or on post, Owens also leads in his home community of Tallahassee, Fla. He has volunteered with his kids' schools, a scholarship foundation and local sports teams.  That's part of being a true citizen-Soldier, Owens said, making better communities and a better Army.  "When you talk about making a better Army, the Army Reserve and the National Guard have played a huge part in this war effort," he said. "My family and I have committed to serving as long as I can."

(story courtesy of The Bayonet, Feb. 20, 2009)

US Marines for 4 years serving in an infantry unit. Two deployments overseas.  I was an anti-tank assault man and primary weapons custodian for India Company 3rd battalion 8th Marine Regiment. 

John Kilgo served for 20 years in the US Navy and US Navy reserve as a Surface Warfare Officer retiring in April 2020 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Austin Porter served in the US Navy from 1991 to 1999 with an honorable discharge.

Austin served on the USS Barry (DDG-52) which is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992.

Barry is the fourth United States Navy ship named after the "Father of the American Navy", Commodore John Barry (1745–1803).