DSF: Tell us about yourself.
AW: Well, I was born in New Haven, CT. After a few early years in Alexandria, VA, I moved then to Lovingston, which is south of Charlottesville because my Dad opened a winery. Upon graduation from high school, I joined the Army for three years, the 82nd Airborne Division, and started at UVA in 1988.
DSF: What made you attend UVA, and what was your major?
AW: I had friends at UVA, it was close to home, and it was a great school. I was very happy about the chance to go there. While there, I studied foreign affairs, as I hadn’t decided on medicine yet. However, as I went along, I realized I wanted to go into medicine, so I worked in all of the pre-med stuff prior to graduation. I did end up graduating with a degree in foreign affairs though.
DSF: Tell us about your experience in joining the Alpha Mu Chapter.
AW: I hadn’t planned on rushing, but I had met Greg Shah through another organization, and he said to come by the Delta Sig house sometime. Well, I went out with some other first- years, and we went to some fraternity houses, and I saw the Delta Sig house so we decided to go in. I got to know the guys and felt comfortable with them, and decided that I wanted to join at the last minute. I was going through the whole rush process still not thinking I wanted to join, but during the last week, I was worried that they weren’t going to give me a bid!
DSF: After graduation you served as the chapter advisor?
AW: Yes, from 1999-2004. I served as the chapter advisor for Alpha Mu while in my residency.
DSF: On to your career. What is your rank in the US Army?
AW: I am a major, which is a lower field-grade officer. Medical corps is different in that you are not a part of a specific division or company, but are assigned to a medical clinic. I am stationed at Fort Eustis and am assigned to the McDonald Army Health Center. I was originally in the infantry, and after a year at UVA, I joined the Special Forces as a medic, which is where I got interested in medicine.
DSF: What is your role in the hospital?
AW: I am a general surgeon. I come in and my time is usually spent doing one of two things – either seeing patients in the clinic and doing surgical consults for various things, or being in the operating room doing surgeries. I also serve as the surgery clinic chief, where I need to be in administrative meetings during the day as well.
DSF: Talk about what being in Iraq was like, and what types of things you dealt with on a daily basis.
AW: My tour was for six months, from the end of March 2005 until October 2005. For the first three months, I was in the Green Zone in Baghdad working at the 86th Combat Support Hospital called Ibn Sina, which is named after an Arabic physician.
For the second three months, I was deployed forward with a forward surgical team in Talafar, which is in the Northeast portion of Iraq. I was there to do emergency surgery. I did a fair number of resuscitations and some other minor surgeries, but luckily we didn’t have to do any major surgeries.
We were forward with the reasoning that people have a better chance of surviving the faster they get to surgery. Luckily, we didn’t have any major surgeries to perform during that time.
DSF: Talk about what it was like being forward, and what it was like being in the middle of war.
AW: As medical staff, we were protected from most of the major fighting, as we were stationed on a forward operating base. It was certainly interesting being there. At times it was very tense, while at other times it wasn’t as tense.
DSF: You were featured in the HBO documentary called “Baghdad ER,” which was shot while you were in Iraq. What was that like, and what was it like seeing yourself on TV?
AW: Well, seeing the documentary brought back a lot of memories of what it was like to be there. While I still remember what it was like, it made my memories a lot more vivid. Regarding being on TV, I’m always surprised to see how tall I look. It was neat seeing myself, but I can’t get over how tall I look on TV.
DSF: Would you go back to Iraq if you were asked?
AW: It turns out that I may have to, so yes, I certainly would.
DSF: Tell us about your biggest success stories of your time in Iraq, and also your worst experience while in Iraq.
AW: My biggest success stories were the several cases where someone was badly wounded and they were able to live after surgery. We had a guy who came in who was shot in the neck and chest. We had to operate on his carotid artery, his heart, his lung, his stomach, and he still survived.
My worst experiences were the few times when soldiers weren’t able to pull through. It’s very disheartening when someone comes into the operating room alive, and they don’t make it.
DSF: Back to your Fraternity experience, what was one thing you learned that you have utilized the most in your post-graduate days?
AW: I developed my ability to get consensus and get along with people. The Army always talks about leadership, and so does the Fraternity. However, the leadership in the Fraternity was much different than being a leader in the Army, where everyone knows that if someone has a higher rank than you, you are obligated to listen to them and take orders. It wasn’t like that in the chapter, and you had to be able to build consensus with brothers to make it work. I also developed a lot of great friendships.
DSF: Who has had the greatest impact on your life?
AW: My father has always been very supportive. He was a role model growing up, and has become a good friend. He was in the Army for 42 years, and retired from the reserves at the age of 60.
DSF: What is a piece of advice that you’d give to undergraduates to be successful?
AW: Have values and stick to them. That will carry you through a lot of times that are difficult. Loyalty and honesty are very high on my list of values they can take with them to be successful.
DSF: Anything else you’d like to add?
AW: I thought this was interesting… When I arrived in Baghdad, I was meeting the other surgeons at the Green Zone hospital, and after telling them I went to UVA, one of them came up to me and asked if I knew a guy by the name of Jim Cowgill. This other surgeon was his brother-in-law. Jim was actually one of my pledge brothers in the Fraternity. I thought that was a neat Fraternity story to share.
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