September 7, 2004

Returned soldier reflects on mission

By JENNIFER OCHSTEIN
Tribune Staff Writer

CULVER -- Lt. Col. Tony Zurbrugg admits that the United States "trained" him and "sustained" him.

It gave him opportunities, he said.

Zurbrugg, a reservist in the Army, knew that if it happened -- if he were called to active duty -- he would be ready to go.

It would then be time to "give the military a return on its investment," Zurbrugg said Wednesday about a week after returning from a six-month stint in Kuwait. That six months also included a 15-day special mission to Afghanistan. The Culver man was gone a total of seven months.

Zurbrugg was assigned to Coalition Land Forces Component Command, or CFLCC, which is part of the Third Army and Army Central Command, which is in charge of all fighting in southwest Asia -- including Iraq and Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa -- in that it orchestrates the movement of troops and responses to hostilities.

More specifically, Zurbrugg, who is a hospital consultant with a background in hospital administration, was a part of the surgeon's office of CFLCC.

Zurbrugg's crowning achievement was working on the planning and implementation of a new military hospital that opened about the first part of July this year in Kuwait.

According to Zurbrugg, about three years prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the U.S. was given permission by Kuwait's government to use several floors of the Kuwait Armed Forces Hospital to treat U.S. soldiers.

As time wore on, Kuwait needed the floors they were allowing the U.S. to use, Zurbrugg explained.

The new U.S. military hospital in Kuwait, officially dedicated on July 15, has 44 beds and is a level 3 hospital, which means it has the facilities to perform virtually all medical procedures, he said.

He said the facility, currently housed under what Zurbrugg called "tentage," eventually must be moved into a "hard-standing building." He said the harsh desert conditions will eventually erode the tentage, which is a semi-permanent structure.

Despite completing his mission, Zurbrugg admitted there were difficult times.

As part of his duties, he was the first to see the casualty reports that would come in.

He said he would see the demographics: who was killed, the person's age, where the person was from, whether or the person was married and had children.

Seeing the names of women who were killed brought "a new dimension for me," said Zurbrugg, who is the father of an 18-year-old daughter.

Being in the military for more than 20 years, the debate raged early on in his career about whether women should serve in the armed forces.

It was said 20 years ago the American public would never "accept a woman coming home in a body bag," Zurbrugg said. "But they're coming home in body bags."

He said American society has accepted it, and he said after serving with women, he has become a firm advocate of women in the military with their knowledge, expertise and desire to step up to a challenge.

Furthermore, Zurbrugg praised all armed services personnel serving, noting that all of them deserve the American public's continued support and encouragement.

"America is a safer place for what we've had to do," Zurbrugg said. "As an American father and husband, I'd much rather deal with it over there than over here. Terrorism is a new phenomenon. 9/11 proved their capabilities to hit us anywhere."

He said later, "They can bring it right to our front door."