Colorado Springs – Sgt. Alan Martin saw two U.S. soldiers injured and several Iraqis killed when a suicide car bomb blew up at a checkpoint he was guarding in western Iraq in March.
At night, insurgents often fired mortars at Martin’s military base in east Ramadi, a hotbed of rebel activity about 120 miles west of Baghdad. He also guarded military convoys, targets for the roadside bombs that have killed and injured scores of U.S. troops in recent months.
He has been home since late July and says he is still adjusting.
“It feels different after you’re away from your family. It takes awhile to get used to driving around and walking around in general without turning around, wondering if someone is going to kill you,” said Martin, a member of the Headquarters Company of the 2nd Infantry Division.
That’s why Fort Carson said it puts its soldiers through extensive screening and reintegration programs.
The U.S. military held a news conference Monday to detail that help, said 1st Lt. Justin Journey, a Fort Carson spokesman, following the murder-suicide of Pfc. Stephen S. Sherwood and his wife, Sara, north of Fort Collins on Wednesday.
“We put it on because we had requests from the news outlets to explain what happens to soldiers returning from Iraq,” Journey said.
Screenings include three face- to-face interviews – one with a military chaplain, one with a physician’s assistant and one with a doctor, said Dee McNutt, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army base.
Soldiers also receive a variety of other services, from dental care to “reintegration training” with their families, she said.
About 3,000 returning soldiers have completed the screening at Fort Carson, McNutt said. About 700 to 800 are still to go.
Martin said he thinks the Sherwood incident was an isolated one. Sherwood, a member of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, was also based in Ramadi, Fort Carson officials said.
“It’s sad enough that he killed her, but it’s not anything to be alarmed about,” Martin said.
