Blog Post #3: Strength Through Struggle – Finding Purpose Beyond the Uniform
After returning home from my deployment to Iraq, I wasn’t the same person who had left. The discipline and structure that once defined me had turned into anger and frustration. I was quick to lash out — not at the world, but at the people I loved most. My wife and children bore the brunt of emotions I didn’t yet know how to manage. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t communicating. I was surviving, not living.
After a couple of years of this downward spiral, my wife gave me an ultimatum — get help or lose everything. That moment became my turning point. I reached out to the VA and began counseling. It wasn’t easy. Facing your own mind can be more challenging than any deployment or emergency call. But with time, guidance, and support, I learned how to manage my emotions and rebuild the trust I had damaged. Through counseling, I became a better husband, a better father, and eventually, a better dispatcher.
When I entered emergency communications, I thought I had already faced the worst life could throw at me. I quickly learned that trauma takes many forms. It doesn’t just happen overseas or on a battlefield — it happens in our headsets, in the silence between radio calls, and in the faces of our coworkers after a critical incident.
My journey from a broken soldier to a 911 professional has shown me that healing doesn’t mean forgetting — it means transforming pain into purpose. Every time I answer a call, every time I mentor a new dispatcher, I’m reminded that my experiences — both good and bad — have shaped me into someone who can stay calm, empathetic, and focused when others cannot.
Mental health is not a weakness. It’s a battlefield of its own, one that requires courage, awareness, and the willingness to ask for help. Whether you wear a uniform, a headset, or both, remember this: you cannot pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first, so you can continue taking care of others.
If you’re struggling, please reach out to a counselor, a peer, a friend, or anyone who will listen. You are not alone in this fight.
