By James Alexander

When it comes to rehabilitation from debilitating injuries, water is a great equalizer. In the weightless environment underwater, things are easier to do, especially for those who have damaged or missing limbs. It is a fact that has led many service members wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to take part in an all-volunteer program that provides free scuba diving training and certification.

Recently a group of wounded warriors from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C., along with staff from the nonprofit Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba, traveled to Key Largo to do some open water diving and certify eight new divers. About a dozen of us from U.S. Southern Command in Doral were fortunate enough to dive with these war heroes during three separate dives.

I and six other folks from SOUTHCOM were part of the first group to dive. Most of the wounded warriors were young guys working to recover from injuries that had cost them limbs. I had heard about injured folks scuba diving before, but seeing it firsthand gave me a great appreciation of how the underwater environment truly is an equalizer. There were no limitations: guys with one fin could dive and get around just as good as someone with two.

But the dives clearly were more than just “rehabilitation.” The wounded warriors seemed to have a great attitude and genuinely had a lot of fun. After one of the dives, we were delighted as we watched some of them diving off the boat, doing back flips into the water.

At the end of the day, Army Maj. Hector Paz and I presented the eight wounded warriors who had attained their dive certifications on this trip with commander’s coins and four-star notes on behalf of SOUTHCOM’s commander, Adm. James Stavridis.

Later in the week more SOUTHCOM people dove with the wounded warriors. Talking with some of them afterward, we all seemed to walk away with the same consensus: We felt honored to spend time with those who’ve sacrificed so much for our country, and we all were very impressed with the SUDS program.

Bob Mask, who works in our Security and Intelligence Directorate, has been working for nearly a year to establish a program similar to SUDS here in the South Florida community. After our recent dive, we’ve all the seen first hand the value of such a program and are re-motivated to do what we can to establish a local program to support this very worthwhile cause.

We all know there’s nothing any of us can do to undo the injuries our wounded warriors have suffered, but maybe in a very small way we can help them get on with their lives.