‘I’M STILL HERE’
Airman establishes a mentorship program to help others recover
BY TECH. SGT. CHRIS POWELL
http://airman.dodlive.mil/still-here/
1 December 2011
Inside his office at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Senior Airman Mike Malarsie types away on his computer. A few feet away, his seeing-eye dog, Xxon, gnaws contentedly on a chew toy. Malarsie is busy creating a program that he believes will help wounded, ill and injured Airmen in ways only those who have shared similar experiences can.
Malarsie, a tactical air control party specialist, was blinded by a roadside bomb explosion while he, another TACP Airman and 11 Soldiers were on a foot patrol outside a small village near Kandahar, Afghanistan, Jan. 3, 2010. In the blast, Malarsie sustained a shattered jaw, a broken nose, multiple lacerations to his face and neck, and the eventual loss of his eyesight.
Despite those setbacks, however, Malarsie is fighting to stay on active duty. If he has his way, he’ll test for promotion alongside his fellow Airmen, taking his physical training test, as well.
“Yeah, I’m blind, but I’m still here. I’m not going to let this wound hold me back,” he said. “I don’t want to take off the uniform. It’s always been a dream of mine to be in the military, and I want to be competitive.”
Stephen Page, the Air Force Recovery Care for Wounded, Ill and Injured program manager said that mentality is why Malarsie was chosen to establish the Recovering Airman Mentorship Program.
“Mike Malarsie doesn’t only want to survive, he wants to make a difference,” Page said. “That’s the difference here. He’s not only in the survival mode where he’s trying to learn [and adjust to] his daily living, he wants to make a difference in other people’s lives.”
Malarsie said the mentorship program takes wounded, ill and injured Airmen who have been through recovery and rehabilitation, teaches them mentoring tools and then pairs them up with other Airmen who have experienced similar situations.
“The idea is that nobody can help these recovering service members get back on their feet better than someone who has been there and done it, someone who really understands the difficulties in dealing with what that they’re going through.”
Malarsie said this program would have helped him tremendously had it been around when he went through his rehabilitation process.
“I remember people coming in my room who had been injured and talking to me. Those people had the biggest impact. They really put my anxieties at ease. The amount of comfort from someone who has been there and experienced it, and can now share that with someone who is lying in a hospital bed makes a huge difference.”
Malarsie is now taking his experiences and the lessons he learned through his recovery and rehabilitation process and applying it to the mentorship program.
His goal is to “get this program to the point where it’s going to be beneficial to all of the wounded, ill and injured. I know what it’s like to wake up in a hospital and not know what comes next, to have everything completely change,” he said. “That’s one of the goals of this program, to put those fears and anxieties away and address [them with] people who have been there and experienced those things, and provide that guidance for them.”
Donald Damron, an Air Force recovery care coordinator, can attest to that. He works with wounded, ill and injured Airmen every day to help them throughout their recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration stages. He said that no matter what kind of support he provides, there is one thing he can’t give them — the kind of emotional support and credibility Malarsie and other mentors can.
“I took Mike to visit two wounded warriors with me at Brook Army Medical Center [in San Antonio] who were [severely injured] by an IED,” he said. “Instantaneously, Mike has credibility with them, and they start asking questions because they’re curious. He comes in and takes care of that emotional healing, and the winner in all of this is the wounded service member.”
Damron said Malarsie’s location in San Antonio is an added benefit.
“If someone is seriously wounded, ill or injured, at some time, they’re probably going to come through San Antonio. Mike is in this area, so while they’re here, we can do their training. So, there are no monetary expenses, as far as bringing them all to one place for training,” he said. “Then, those service members can return to their units with that mentorship training that he’s given them, and they’re able to help other Airmen.”
Even with his physical injuries and limitations, Malarsie still considers himself a TACP specialist and always will. Page said the TACP creed is still strong within Malarsie.
“His sole motivation is based on helping others,” Page said. “It’s kind of the TACP world, ‘so others may live.’ That’s something he knows and embraces. That’s what he’s doing each and every day. He’s living that creed every day.”
The program is still in its infancy, with 15 members to date, Malarsie said. He is still refining the training plan and working with Air Force recovery care coordinators to find the right mentors.
While he’s focusing on the future and helping his fellow wounded, ill and injured Airmen, Malarsie doesn’t forget those who died in the attack where he lost his vision. He wears a bracelet bearing the names of some of the service members who died in the explosion. He does this to honor his fallen brothers in arms but to also remind him to stay true in helping other service members who have become wounded, ill or injured.
“Yeah, I’m blind, but I’m still here.”