PDA

View Full Version : Certain 'old' soldiers are just fine with the U.S. Army



thedrifter
08-10-07, 09:06 AM
Certain 'old' soldiers are just fine with the U.S. Army
Libertyville surgeon has skills that allow him to follow his son into the service

By Andrew L. Wang

Tribune staff reporter

August 10, 2007


As her husband, an orthopedic surgeon, swore an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, Nancy Baier sat near the back of the room, arms crossed, looking a little nervous.

But when he finished, she broke into a smile and applauded. Then she pinned an oak-leaf cluster to his lapel.

Thus capped the commissioning ceremony Thursday, in the lobby of his Libertyville medical offices, at which Dr. Thomas Baier, 53, became a major in the U.S. Army.

"I'm concerned," Nancy Baier said of her husband's decision. "I'm proud of him, but I'm concerned."

A year ago, Thomas Baier, father of four, walked into a recruiting office to see if the Marines could use his decades of experience healing bone and joint injuries. Only a few months earlier, his son Michael, a Marine lance corporal now in Iraq, had graduated from basic training in San Diego. After mulling it over, Baier, of Libertyville, decided he wanted to join too.

"I'm at a stage where I don't have kids around the house anymore," he said. "I saw this as a way I could help my country."

But the Marines told him he was too old and passed his name to the Army. After going through physical examinations, having his qualifications vetted by the Department of Defense and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Baier was sworn in as an officer.

"I told my son he's going to have to salute me," he joked.

The Army is glad to have him, and Baier was well under the age limit, 62, for medical professionals to join its reserve medical corps.

Nurses, doctors and therapists joining the Army are considered to have a skill that's "wartime critical," said Sgt. Thomas Voye, a health-care recruiter for the Army Reserve. "He's not going to be kicking down any doors. His hands and head are much more important."

The first step in Baier's military career, which he likely will take this fall, is four weeks of officer basic training at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Voye said. Then he will be assigned to the 801st Combat Support Hospital unit at Ft. Sheridan.

Baier is looking forward to new experiences, such as training to fire a handgun and figuring out the lexicon of Army acronyms.

"That's kind of the exciting part of doing something new," Baier said. "It's kind of a career change for me."

-----------

alwang@tribune.com

Ellie