FALLS CHURCH, Va. –
He was assigned to the 101st Airborne Division in Kandahar from 2010-2011. “I got blown up on my first deployment and medically retired. I served about three years in the Army,” said retired Army 1st Lieutenant Cameron Kerr.
The program that helped Kerr recover and overcome is where he now works. The Army Recovery Care Program, formerly Warrior Care and Transition, was a beacon of hope thirteen years ago for Kerr, who describes the day of the explosion that would eventually lead to a left leg below-the-knee amputation.
“About a month before the end of the deployment, we were out on a regular patrol. I heard a small explosion, and it was my Afghan counterpart who had stepped on an IED. As platoon leader, I called up the medevac and had it spun up for him. We had confirmation they were on the way, and then I realized I probably wasn’t going to see this guy again even though I had been working with him for a while, and I figured I should go over and say goodbye.”
He decided to snake his way through 150 meters of grape orchards to reach his counterpart when he, unfortunately, found another explosive device. “I stepped on a secondary, a pressure plate, and I got launched a few feet. I was able to do some self-assessment. Working my way from head to toe, I saw my boot was blown clean off the foot and was lying a few feet away, and I saw how bad it was. It wasn’t a traumatic amputation, meaning it wasn’t blown clean off, but it was massive bone destruction.”
Kerr was also medevacked. When this happened, he was 24 years old- “The good thing is that I was conscious the whole time, and that’s good and bad. I was aware of and felt everything until the surgery, where they did a clean amputation. The really good thing is I was aware of it before they did it because I knew many people at Walter Reed when I was a patient there in 2011 who didn’t know that. One minute, they’re on patrol. The next minute, they wake up from a coma a few days or weeks later with their mom there or their girlfriend, and that would be profoundly more disorienting. So, despite the pain, I was aware, and right before the surgery, they explained what was happening, and I felt like I was involved,” said Kerr.
One might not ever fathom what a real-world situation like Kerr's was and discover through all the chaos and fighting what the silver linings were, but he explains how he had to grab them as he saw them. “One of the positive elements of being conscious was talking to my family. Before they wheeled me into surgery, they handed me a phone, and I was able to call my mom. She thought it was the once-a-week check-in and said hey, let me get your father- I said Mom, I don’t have a lot of time to talk, but the good news is I’m alive. The bad news is they're about to cut my leg off. I can tell you more later. Gotta go.”
He was thankful he could tell them in his own words that they got to hear him alive and that he got to talk to them because he says not every parent gets that. The Army’s ability to care for him was also a silver lining.
“You don’t ever think it will happen to you. It happens to other people, not me. I didn’t know about the infrastructure of this program in the Army. It was a phenomenal experience on the clinical side; physical therapy was great. My physical therapist was at the top of her class. They were hard on us and needed to be – we were Soldiers, and our MOS was to get better.”
He did get better and worked for the Department of Defense shortly after he retired. Fast-forward to today, and Kerr sees his position as an Operations Officer under the Actions Branch at ARCP as a full circle moment.
“When I saw the job posting, I thought, what a cool way to complete that circle. I mean to be able to contribute meaningfully to the program I benefitted so much from, and so many other Soldiers did too.”
Kerr says some of the moments are surreal, and he smiles at the reality of his life. “I gotta say, walking in the building this morning, I was like, oh yeah, I work here now.
Everybody cares about the mission, but it's different when you’ve been on the receiving end. I know I'm not directly interfacing with the Soldiers, but I know my efforts are contributing and helping with the mission.”
Having been a beneficiary of the program designed to help Soldiers recover and overcome, he offers a nonfiltered, direct piece of advice for Soldiers who may need an SRU in the future.
“The quicker you come to terms with the situation and accept it, the quicker you can move on, progress, and ask what’s next. Don’t dwell on the what-ifs. And, if your time in the Army is done, you’ve got to find a new mission. That’s what I was seeking in the Army. We are conditioned to be mission-oriented, so you need to find something you’re very passionate about and can contribute to and latch on to that.”
He says being aware of help from the moment you walk through the door will set you on the right path. “I highly recommend taking advantage of every opportunity and getting in the habit of not saying no to anything. Max out on the opportunities beyond your appointments and PT.- there are so many.”