Amputee Completes Air Assault Training at Ft. Campbell
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. —Sgt. 1st Class Greg Robinson has become the first amputee to complete Army air assault school, a course so grueling his prosthetic leg broke twice over the 10 days spent rappelling down ropes, navigating obstacle courses and completing strenuous road marches.
Each year thousands of soldiers are physically and mentally tested at the Fort Campbell school. Instructors said Robinson accomplished everything other participants did and trainers cut him no slack even though he lost part of his right leg on a deployment to Afghanistan in 2006.
When Robinson joined teammates at a brief graduation ceremony Monday at the Sabalauski Air Assault School, others called his success a testament to what can be achieved by amputees. War wounds from Iraq and Afghanistan and the recent bombing at the Boston Marathon have highlighted the challenges amputee patients face in recovering.
An inspiration to the Boston bombing victims? Robinson, a 34-year-old noncommissioned officer from Elizabethtown, Ill., said his attitude was one of just wanting to grit it out and complete the same program he sends soldiers to who are under his command.
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