USAF reservist battles injury and government insurance system
Thursday, February 4, 2010 at 3:08PM By Kay B. Day
Col. Doug Strand with Zalmay Khalilzad, then Ambassador to Iraq. Strand said when he was in Iraq he worked directly with Khalilzad’s staff developing strategies to help the Iraqi people with water, electricity, rule of law, elections, and other matters.Col. Doug Strand served for 11 years on active duty in the US Air Force and he has another 8 years on active duty as a reservist. He’s jumped out of planes and he’s served in Iraq. He probably never envisioned himself grappling with serious medical problems and he certainly didn’t envision dealing with the complexities of Tricare, a military health insurance plan. But a few minutes on a hot summer morning changed his life forever.
Strand was traveling on his motorcycle to report for duty as usual in July, 2008. The base was 5 miles from his house. The roads were wet and when he was about to turn, the back tire skidded on the slick pavement.
