Throughout the month of November, which is designated as Veterans Month, Center Times Plus will feature content that showcases our faculty, staff, students, and patients who have served, or are still active, in the United States Armed Forces. Please keep visiting CT Plus for new content throughout the month.

This piece features Q&As of two UTSW fourth-year medical school students and one fourth-year resident, who share how their military background helped prepare them for medical school.

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Robert Weir, Fourth-Year Resident

 

What is your military background?

I was a 17-year-old freshman in college when Sept. 11, 2001, occurred. I was profoundly stirred by the tragic events on that day and felt a call to arms to defend my family and loved ones and left college to pursue those ends. I joined the Marine Corps in 2002. I went to boot camp and further training and then was active duty as a Combat Engineer during 2003 before being transferred to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on a military scholarship to pursue higher education. I ended up staying with the service and then switched gears around 2006 as I decided I wanted to go into medicine at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. I completed my studies a few years later.

Tell us about your service.

I graduated boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, and was stationed at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, at a nondeployable unit with the School of Infantry (SOI). After boot camp all Marines go to the SOI for further training, including combat, weaponry, and military way of life, so the attached units are nondeployable even in wartime as they are essential full-time personnel. I actually asked to deploy – it was part of why I joined – but those in the chain of command had already been informed about my scholarship, and so they alerted me I would not be allowed to deploy.

What did you gain from military service?

In no particular order: discipline, fitness, confidence, perseverance, humility. I find that the equanimity that I honed in the Corps also is very useful in a medical setting. I keep my head even in emergent, time-sensitive situations. I am also able to utilize servant leadership in a way that utilizes the strengths of my subordinates while still serving “in the trenches” with them. I am a strong believer in never thinking that one is “above” a certain job or station. Leadership should be earned through service and competence.

Finally, I tend to embrace challenges and do not mind failure if it serves to help me improve in the future. Ultimately, every work-related decision I make centers around my patients and that leaves little room for hubris.

Working with veterans is very rewarding. I connect with other vets in a special way that is hard to explicitly illustrate to those who have not had similar shared life events. The military life comes with a unique set of skills and challenges alike and tends to leave a permanent mark on those who served.

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Marco Martinez, MS4

 

What is your military background?

I worked as an engineer in the USAF. I joined as a sense of duty, adventure, and as a way to pay for school while also getting a great education. I have been pretty actively involved with the military since going through basic training in 1996 as a cadet in a military academy. I graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2000 and went on active duty through 2005 before serving in the Air Force Reserve. I’ve been on Navy active duty since 2015 while at UT Southwestern Medical School. In all, I should have around 13 or 14 active/active reserve years under my belt.

Tell us about your service.

While in the Air Force I deployed/mobilized to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa. I was stationed in Colorado Springs, Colorado (USAFA), San Francisco (USAF-AD), NAS JRB Fort Worth (USAFR), and now I am currently here at school training to be a physician in the U.S. Navy.

What did you gain from military service?

The military provided me with leadership training, a large portion of my graduate education, unique life experiences, and lifelong friendships. I still use many military traits – such as teamwork, discipline, the ability to remain calm in stressful situations, leadership, and interpersonal skills – on a regular basis.

 

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Casey Jones, MS4

 

What is your military background?

I first joined the Air National Guard and I later served in the Air Force Reserve until 2013 as a Captain. In all, 10 years. I flew the F-16 Fighting Falcon, a single-engine aircraft also often referred to as the Viper. I grew up in Sherman and knew pretty early that I wanted the opportunity and the challenge of flying military aircraft. I enlisted after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.

Tell us about your service.

I deployed to Iraq in 2007 and twice to South Korea, in 2005 and then again in 2010. I was stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls and at Kelly Air Force Base at San Antonio for my pilot training. While in the New Mexico Air National Guard, I was in Albuquerque before joining the Air Force Reserve and getting assigned to Fort Worth.

What did you gain from military service?

I had an exciting job and got to travel and go through unique experiences. It also taught me leadership and provided opportunities to mature. The ones that come to mind are teamwork, effective communication, embracing hard work, and going through lots of training to master your craft or duties.