Revamped Hub Gives Returning Warriors a Taste of Home

Goal of Center's New Facilities, Expanded Space Is to Make Service Members Feel Safe

They come by the dozen, bandaged and shellshocked, touching down on U.S. soil for the first time since they left home for war. They're greeted by doctors and nurses, who tend to their wounds, and Red Cross volunteers who tell them there's root beer in the fridge and chicken for dinner.

And now, thanks to a $4.9 million renovation of the medical hub at Andrews Air Force Base, the service members wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are greeted by an expanded state-of-the-art facility that is designed to give them, as Maj. Gen. Gar Graham said, "a wonderful, first-class welcome."

They don't stay long. The worst off are whisked away to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington or the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. Others stay at Andrews for a night or two, waiting to be transported to a hospital closer to their home towns. Still, the staff at Andrews is charged with "a sacred mission," Col. Robert Miller said.

For the past 50 years, Andrews has served as a hub for wounded warriors, the first place they land in the United States on their journey home. Since then, 100,000 have come to the base, perhaps best known as the home of Air Force One. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan grind on, the wounded arrive at a rate of about 100 a week. More than 30,000 service members have been wounded in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, according to the Pentagon.

The expansion gives the center, known as the 79th Aeromedical Staging Facility, a 107-bed capacity, 45 more than before the renovation, when it was so crowded some patients had to stay in the gymnasium.

The renovation comes five years after Dover Air Force Base in Delaware opened a $30 million mortuary, where the remains of service members killed abroad are processed and prepared for burial.

The wounded come to Andrews from Germany on specially outfitted C-17s that resemble flying hospitals. They land three times a week, on Sunday, Tuesday and Friday, delivering 20 to 50 patients.

With the renovation completed, they have upgraded private rooms, with new bathrooms and shiny new equipment. But beyond the renovation, which began in June last year, it's the small details, officials said, that are the most important for returning service members.

"It's our goal to get rid of the 1,000-yard stare," said Tim Sumner, a Red Cross volunteer. The service members -- soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors -- come in fresh off the front lines, not knowing what to expect, and so he tries to get them to laugh, or at least smile.

Some are just happy to be out of the war zone. Others miss their buddies. All are looking for a taste of home, and that's what they're given: filet mignon on Tuesdays, Cornish game hen on Fridays, meatloaf on Sundays. And, for one service member, the peanut butter milkshake he's been craving.

Sumner went out to the base commissary to get the ingredients for the special order. "We fuss over them, tell them how great it is to have them back," he said.

There's a 60-inch television and recliners with cup holders and magazines and books to take their minds off their wounds.

When he landed at Andrews a few months ago, his right leg blown off by a bomb, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Christopher Frost was scared and nervous and groggy from the medication. But there was also a clear sense of comfort, which he hadn't felt in months.

"It was just amazing being back in the States," he said. "It felt like home. It felt safe, like they're going to be taking care of me."