Maj. Rozelle, who was wounded in Iraq in 2003 and returned to active duty with a prosthesis, is supervising construction of the new amputee care center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is also a competitive triathlete.

1. What makes this center unique among rehabilitation facilities?
There’s only one model in the world like ours, and we created it in reaction to the war, and to the patient population that we have.

The number of patients has grown in the last five years, and now we’re able to give national care at three different locations without any single center being overrun. Walter Reed [used to be] the only one for amputee care; then the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio was developed based on the same model, and we’ve expanded the C5 (the Combined Comprehensive Combat Care Center) in San Diego.

The difference between our three centers and any other rehab model in the world is that it’s advanced. We’re not just getting our patients to walk. [We’re] preparing them to return to duty, whether it’s to go back and fight in Iraq, or to go to law school. It takes [soldiers, who are] professional athletes, back to where they were before injury.

2. What program or equipment at the center are you most excited about?
Probably the most [exciting is] the CAREN (Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment), which is a helicopter simulator with a treadmill on top of it, a big 3-D screen projected in front of  [the patient], and a surround sound system, to create a virtual environment. A patient, even with severe head trauma or loss of both limbs, can [use it to] regain ability, balance, and strength.

The Firearms Training Simulator [is] another kind of virtual reality environment, in which the guys do everything from learning how to shoot again to interacting in a combat environment where they have to make decisions. We have one currently at Walter Reed, but we have a better model of it in the new facility.

3. What do you focus on in mentoring recent amputees?
[Some] people think that because I was the first to go back to active duty in Iraq, that I’m a slave driver and I’m trying to convince everybody to stay on active duty. And some of the guys are defensive the first time they meet with me.

But I really want the young men and women who have been injured to do what’s best for them—and more importantly, [for] their families. The only reason I continued to serve was because my wife supported it. And [with] a lot of these guys, their families feel like they’ve given enough. And truly, they may have, and it’s time for them to get out, and I fully support [that].

As a peer mentor, obviously, I can guide them down the path of being physically ready to return to active duty or even to combat [if that’s their choice], but they can make that decision much later.

I just want to make sure that from the day they enter, they take full advantage of the capabilities that we have at Walter Reed, no matter what they want to do [in the future].

4.  What adjustments did you need to make when wearing a prosthesis in active combat? 
I had to make sure I had plenty of prosthetic socks available all the time, and I [was] probably one of the few guys in combat with an extra foot in [his] backpack! I had to be conscious of the rough terrain. [With] missions that involved any water, I was especially concerned, because I didn’t have a suction setup back then, and I had to be very careful with moisture.

At the time, I was a Symes amputee, so I actually had a door on my prosthesis, which closed on my leg and clamped on; it was water-permeable. So, like anybody with an adaptive lifestyle, I had to be prepared for anything.

5. What are your current personal athletic goals?
I finished the Ironman in Kona [Hawaii] last October, and that was a significant milestone in my athletic career. This year I’ve already done two half-Ironmen and the Physically Challenged Championships in New York City. And I’ve got two more big triathlons before Clearwater National Championships in November.

I just want to stay busy and competitive, and continue to set an example for men and women to stay healthy.

Interview conducted by Heather Benjamin.