Program assists heroes in reaching next level

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
  • Air Force Print News
RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  They gave something that they can never get back, and a group here does its best to ensure these heroes smoothly move on to the next phase of their lives.

Palace HART -- Helping Airmen Recover Together -- is a program that assists Airmen injured in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Many of them have amputations and other handicaps. The program assists them in staying on active duty, if possible, but it also helps injured veterans transition to life in the civilian world.

The program started in 2004.

"Place HART is vital to them. (Air Force leaders) want to ensure we have no lost patrols," said Bill Sherman, the chief of family and community operations at the Air Force Personnel Center.

The program assists though resume building and helping locate civilian service jobs for the injured heroes. They continually call the veterans, sometimes daily, to make sure the injured Airmen know that they are not alone.

Brian Kolfage lost his legs and his right arm to a mortar attack at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2004. With assistance from the Palace HART program he has found a job working in civil service in security forces, the same career field he held on active duty.

"Overall this program has helped me become more independent and more focused on what I want to do in the future and overall helped me become stronger as a person," he said.

There are 86 Airmen in the program. Approximately five Airmen a month have been added and program officials try to stay in contact with the injured for 5 years.

"We just try to untie the knots for them," Mr. Sherman said. "These are people that were happy with their career and all of a sudden have to leave the service."

Palace HART officials find their work rewarding.

"It is heartwarming for me that we make sure the folks get remembered. It's important for them to know we still care," Mr. Sherman said.