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New program gives ‘wounded warriors’ educational opportunities

By Janene Scully/Associate Editor

When Jason Gladney heard about a new Army program aimed at letting wounded warriors further their education and serve as teachers, he wasn’t overly interested.

But hearing more details piqued his interest; he maintains a deep love for the Army although war injuries have led to his medical retirement.

And now the Grover Beach resident is among eight people — both soldiers and veterans — picked to participate in the "Wounded Warrior Education Initiative."

“It was a super blessing in my life. It’s just a special opportunity,” said Gladney, 34.

Under the pilot program involving the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., participants will complete their master's degree at KU; the Army will pay for the education, including paying participants a salary.

Once they’ve earned their master’s degrees, graduates will work as instructors or in other positions at the Army's Command and General Staff College or its Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Soldiers who are still on active duty would remain on active duty, while those retired due to injury would serve as civilian instructors.

While other programs help veterans earn degrees, Gladney said the Wounded Warrior Education Initiative is attractive because the military will pay the former soldiers a salary while they attend school full-time.

“I love teaching. I like people. I like having the interaction and making a difference with people,” he said.

The fact he will get to remain connected with the military makes the program especially appealing.

“It’s such a wonderful thing working with service members. We’re a volunteer army. I think it’s understated the quality of people who do that job,” Gladney said.

In February, the pioneering participants were introduced during a Fort Leavenworth, Kan., ceremony with Secretary of the Army Pete Geren and Chancellor Robert Hemenway of the University of Kansas.

"There's so much pent-up generosity out there in the American public," Geren said the day of the ceremony. "Americans want to step up and do something for our soldiers.

"And Chancellor Robert Hemenway had a good idea — let's develop this partnership, to help soldiers that want to continue their education. Let's figure out a way to make this work to help these soldiers continue professionally, to pursue their professional and educational dreams."

Both soldiers and those medically retired who are part of the Wounded Warrior Program — a 4-year-old effort to assist and advocate for wounded soldiers by providing individual support — are eligible to participate in the new education program. However, participants must already have a bachelor’s degree and must also be physically and mentally prepared to attend school.

Meeting the Army’s top civilian was “cool,” Gladney said. Yet being among veterans with worse injuries than his own proved humbling.

“When I got there I was very humbled to be in the presence of lot of those guys,” Gladney said, recalling the audience of 1,000 Army majors giving the wounded warriors a standing ovation. “It was very humbling, is what it was.”

Inspired by his Army major brother, Gladney enlisted after a career as a teacher and coach. He later was commissioned an officer.

“I felt like what he was doing was incredibly awesome, and he was a hero in my eyes,” said Gladney, who is originally from Gulfport, Miss.

But while serving in Iraq as an armor officer, he was injured March 1, 2006, when an improvised explosive device went off in Balad, leaving him with headaches and hearing loss. The first lieutenant was medically retired in February after spending just shy of five years on active duty.

He moved to the Central Coast where his fianc/e Dori Churchill works in the hospitality industry. He works at Vandenberg Air Force Base in a support role on the missile defense program.

While KU is the only academic partner in the Wounded Warrior Education program, officials say success could lead to the expansion to include other civilian universities, other Army training sites or even other branches of service.

janscully@theadobepress.com