FALLS CHURCH, Va. –
Va.- Being a Soldier in recovery can be challenging enough, but factor in family separation, and it’s a whole new level. Maj. Kayla Lytle of the Pennsylvania National Guard learned firsthand how the Soldier Recovery Unit at Fort Belvoir always had her family in mind while she was recovering from a torn labrum. “The leadership there was so amazing. My squad leaders were very helpful to my family. We had some caregiver issues at home as my mother-in-law was helping care for the kids. She then had a cancer diagnosis, so we needed to adjust. My SRU let me use passes more often so I could be home and navigate that. I can’t say enough how well they worked with me and my family.”
Her journey to the SRU started with an injury that happened in May of 2023. “I was on a statewide mission roughly 14 months long- we had a unit softball team. I was sliding into 3rd base and hurt my left shoulder. I tore my labrum and my bicep that attaches to my labrum,” said the 22-year Military Police Officer, who incidentally finished her mission.
“Luckily, I was performing as a brigade safety officer at the time, so it wasn’t my typical job and a little less physical than my regular job. Thank goodness I took my military physical fitness test for the year. I struggled while there, with little things like putting my hair up or anything over my head.”
Lytle arrived at the Fort Belvoir SRU in November, only to learn a surgeon wouldn’t be able to see her for a while. Enter the SRU cadre to help find a solution. “Since they couldn’t do my surgery for at least five months, the social worker and other leaders went to bat for me and said it would be in my best interest and my family’s, especially since I had already been gone from home so long, that I should go home and have the surgery at a civilian hospital, I could convalesce at home, and I could take care of the family situation as well.”
She had surgery in February 2024, and her recovery is going well, but not without continuous work for Lytle. “Even now, after surgery, I realize how much I use my left arm even though I am right-handed, for example, driving, and I also shoot left-handed, so it’s gonna be continuous work.”
In the civilian world, she is a full-time certified nursing assistant. With the help of her transition coordinator, she is taking advantage of career education and readiness opportunities while at the SRU. “ My TC, Mr. Coleman, worked with me so much. I was looking into a physical therapy course, and I was gung-ho. Then, I learned that the university I wanted to attend was discontinuing that program. Mr. Coleman said, ‘No problem, let’s find what you can do and where you can go.’ I am here to tell you that your Transition Coordinator is vital to your recovery.”
She enrolled in the certified clinical medical assistant program and just started classes at Garret College, which is close to her home. “ I will do patient transports while I’m in school. I am also getting my phlebotomy certification,” said Lytle.
Working with opportunities within the SRU, Lytle discovered many financial aid programs she learned about because she was there in recovery. “I had no idea how that happened- I never thought anyone would give me financial aid. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, but the college put me in for a scholarship, and I got it! It will cover half the cost- I would not be here without the SRU.”
Lytle is excited to return to Guard duty and her new path in civilian life. She said her journey to where she is now included art therapy and yoga at the SRU. Utilizing every opportunity she could participate in to achieve a successful outcome guided her schedule at the SRU. “I had no idea what an SRU was. My unit brought it up before I got to demobilization, and my readiness NCO brought it up with me. He said I could go home and do it on my own, or I could do this and still get paid and get all the medical care I need. It was a tough decision because I had already been away for 14 months and was missing my kids. My NCO said I would do it if I were in your shoes. I’m so glad I did.”