Aschinger fights for soldiers
Aids in reentry to civilian lifeBy KATIE WILLIAMS Messenger staff writer
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Staff Sgt. Michael Aschinger works in three offices for at least 48 hours and travels at least 1,000 miles a week to take care of 183 Individual Ready Reserve soldiers.
IRR soldiers are members of the military that are former active duty or reserve military personnel and Aschinger tries to help them re-enter the life of a civilian.
''Most come off active duty and all they want to do is hide,'' he said. ''They'll give me they're parents' address in Algona and I'll show up there only to find out they're taking classes in Ames. So I'll show up out of the blue to talk with them in Ames. They're usually pretty ticked.''
He said some will even move to another state.
''I had one guy go to Alaska,'' Aschinger said. While he doesn't travel that far, he said he will do everything in his power to take care of the men and women who have taken care of their country.
''Some will come back with post traumatic stress disorder and I'll call him and his wife in to my office,'' he said. ''I'll just talk to his wife because she'll tell me how he's doing. He'll just grumble.''
He said he fights to get those who need it into treatment with counselors, a year's worth of sessions are free, and struggles to get others to come in for a physical.
''If they just sit through one physical they will be set for life for health care but I have to struggle to get them to come in,'' Aschinger said. ''I did two tours in Iraq, but this is by far my greatest leadership challenge I've ever faced.''
He said there are so many resources available they just aren't aware of. A grant of $5,000 is available for IRR soldiers to put toward buying a home when they get off active duty but many don't even think of asking for it because they don't know it's there, he said.
He said he helps soldiers get resources for insurance, health care, education and even relationship problems.
Aschinger said some don't think they need help and others get frustrated and give up.
''There is just so much paper work you have to slog through and some don't think it's worth it,'' he said. ''So I fight those fights for them. I make the calls and slog through the paper work so they don't have to.''
He doesn't stop at just soldiers, he said. Aschinger said he's taken time to explain insurance and health care to spouses too.
And it doesn't matter what time of night issues, questions and problems may arise, he'll be there for them, Aschinger said.
''I had one soldier who was really struggling,'' he said. ''He called me up at 1 a.m. and I spent a couple of hours on the phone with him.''
His wife is very understanding, Aschinger said.
''She'll field calls too and get worried about their situation,'' he said.
He said he is committed to these soldiers because he was once in their shoes.
''This soldier could have been covering my back when I was in Iraq,'' He said. Aschinger said there is no stronger support than a military unit. He said some soldiers will feel abandoned after they get off active duty because that support is suddenly gone.
Aschinger said he wants to be that support for them.
''These are the greatest people in the world,'' he said. ''Wives, moms, husbands, fathers, friends - look out for your soldiers.''
Contact Katie Williams at (515) 573-2141 or katie@messengernews.net
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CommonSense
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10-13-08 11:23 AM
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God bless you for what you do!! Very honorable. We spend so much time training these guys to fight, we forget to re-train them how to live when they get back, and how to cope with what they experienced. We owe this to them.
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momof250548
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10-13-08 11:13 AM
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Thats honorable..
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