Veteran, 'Regardless of your disability you can overcome and succeed'

Veteran, 'Regardless of your disability you can overcome and succeed'
Daily News
By LAUREN SAGE REINLIE
October 29, 2013

EGLIN AFB — It took more than eight years for veteran Rob Vickers to fully realize he was suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder.

While serving with the Army National Guard in upstate New York, Vickers was called to ground zero after 9/11. Sifting through the rubble in a smoggy cloud of jet fuel, burnt carpet and body parts, he saw things that haunt him still.

He already had spent four years in the Marine Corps and hadn’t planned to re-enlist, but “Al Qaeda changed all that,” he said. He quickly signed up for the Air Force and was sent on two tours to Iraq.

At one point he saw an aircraft get shot down in front of him. His pilot took evasive action and Vickers’ head was thrown against the fuselage, possibly causing a brain injury.

“As soon as we hit the air field we were off, it wasn’t about who was hurt; ‘Hey Vickers, is your head OK?’ ” he said.

The migraines started in 2007. Then came the nerve damage; he had trouble standing on his feet for long periods of time. He realized he was getting angry over little things —spilled coffee or a paper jam in the copy machine. He had a lot of anxiety.

Vickers finally was diagnosed with PTSD in 2010 and medically retired.
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