What is the greatest adversity you faced in your time in the military? How did you get through it, and how do you look back on it now?

For me... Easy, being falsely accused of crime and investigated by the DAIG (after 25 years in the Army), and being flagged for close to 39 months... For a referred OER I gave to a LT who sexually assaulted a woman (actually there were more than one we found out later). It careened into EO, and finally a DAIG whistleblower reprisal case. It started in Apr 05 and was finally thrown out by the DODIG in Aug 08, and I was promoted to Colonel 19 months late on 28 Sep 08. The DODIG said "the DAIG erred and their witnesses were all less than credible."

I got through it with a lot of faith, a core of supporters - peer, friends and bosses (who stuck with me based on my reputation alone), and because I have the most supportive wife and family ever. My boss at the time, in the worst times, also helped me keep faith, patience, and trust, and even made my laugh at my myself when I needed it most.

When all was restored, except the time I lost in limbo, another great mentor told me the hardest thing I would have to do, was not be vindictive. He said being vindictive would hurt me much more than the objects of my disdain. So, I smothered the culprits with kindness.

Great question and very appropriate for this forum 1LT(P) (Join to see). I can think of several contenders, each seemed like the hardest but became replaced by others much more severe. The first time I lost a brother in combat was very hard because we were just a tiny air cav troop and us cav folks tend to remain extremely tight even decades later. We lost 2 in the last couple of weeks in our tour. That was in 2004 and since then I have lost too many to count. In 2007 we lost 14 in just one day (Blackhawk went down in Mosul). By that time I was practically numb and just cold-hearted. I couldn't feel joy or love, but I could feel hate and anger. But very selfishly, I think the loss of my career at 18.5 years had the greatest impact on me. Forced medical retirement after that much time and experiencing that much loss along the way really put the zap on me. I was in the hospital for months getting put back together and I begged the nurse to just smother me with a pillow. The pain was a 10/10 made so not just from the wounds, but the emotional pain and anxiety as well. The wife had taken everything in the house, the only vehicle, and the checkbook and bailed, so getting out of the hospital and getting home meant nothing. The combination f physical and emotional pain changed me. I was just a numb sack of meat waiting to die for years. I found that the family relocated to the Phoenix area (most likely because I said I would rather die than live in the desert). I moved there in a uhaul and stayed alone in a dirt field on a peach farm isolated in a delapidated trailer with no tv, no radio, no toilet, no fridge, no money, and no hope just so I could be 5 miles from the ex family and so my 3 kids knew I wanted to desperately be in their lives. But the ex moved there to shack up with her newest source of income and squeeze him dry. I had no ties to the military anymore, no family, but I ALWAYS had whikey. That eventually led me to a super extreme DUI and 45 days in the pokey. That finally got Phoenix to send me to the PTSD residential program in Menlo Park, CA (after begging to go for 2 years). I spent 4 months there. The therapy was too personal to broadcast, but I was there for 4 months so let's just say I was a wreck. I learned to just let go of all the anger I had inside of me once I gave mysef to the Lord and admitted there was no way I could do this alone. My last drink was 4 DEC 2011. That was 3.5 years ago and that man is dead. Never give up. When things are so bad that you believe there is never a way out, you will look back on that experience and hopefully be the better for it. You will certainly learn a lot about what kind of person you are. Use your pain to get in touch with that empathetic person inide of you and help others thru their low points. You will be a force of incredible influence on someone who thinks things can never get better. Stay away from the self medicating. Deal with the problem head on and sober or you will become stuck in life. God Bless. Respectfully, Uncle Mark

For me, it was a series of serious injuries that had temporarily sideline me from physical activity and almost caused me to be medically discharged each time. In 2010, while deployed, I tore parts of my chest muscle and shoulder and had to have surgery and physical therapy for up to 10 months. In 2012, I tore my quad and total recovery time was 11 months. In 2013, I tore my calf and Achilles' tendon, total recovery time 10 more months. Each time the Army wanted me to take a med board. I was upset and I couldn't figure out why my body was failing me after all these years of being in peak physical condition. I almost gave up the last time, but with some advice from family, friends, peers and leaders, I decided to work hard and get back into gear and now I am running 5-10 miles 4-5 times a week and I feel great.