By Caitlin Morrison, WTC Communications Division
AW2 Veteran Karl Pasco and his daughter take a trip on the Austin Steam Train.
Retired Sgt. 1st Class Karl Pasco, a two-time Purple Heart recipient and avid shooting enthusiast, was injured on two separate deployments in Iraq. On his first deployment in 2004, his vehicle ran over an improvised explosive device (IED). After recovery, he redeployed to Iraq in 2006 and was hit by another IED. Among other injuries, Pasco sustained a shattered right leg, shrapnel in his left arm, ten broken ribs, three fractured vertebrae, a broken upper jaw, a bruised heart and shrapnel puncturing his chest. The first time he was injured, the US Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2) had not yet been created and Pasco remembers having to navigate the recovery and transition process on his own. After his second attack, AW2 support began right away when he was recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He returned to his home state of Texas once major surgeries were completed to continue his recovery at Fort Hood.
Pasco has worked with a number of AW2 Advocates over the years. “They would challenge me to attain the goals that I set,” he said of all of his AW2 Advocates. One of the most important goals for Karl was to be able to shoot again. He told AW2 that he wanted to build his own shooting range and they said, “Well then do it!” Pasco found planning the project and actually constructing the range extremely therapeutic.
While at Fort Hood, he created his own internship with the ROTC program at Texas A&M University-Central Texas. Pasco knew that he did not want to spend his time at the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) “sitting around,” so he went to work in their S3 operations as the Donations NCO and Activities NCO. He processed donations to the WTB for three years and helped coordinate activities for other wounded, ill and injured Soldiers at the WTB. Karl took many of his fellow WTB Soldiers hunting, fishing, four-wheeling, kayaking and more.
Pasco is currently a part-time student at Central Texas College, working towards his BA and MA. He has a very close relationship with his current AW2 Advocate, Carol Livengood, and takes pride in sending her updates on his rehabilitation progress. He sees Livengood quite often, as she works closely with another AW2 Advocate—his wife, Joy. Karl says of Joy, “she realized that she found a passion in her life that she didn’t realize—she wanted to help Soldiers.”
Editors Note: 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program (AW2). Read more about AW2’s decade of impact with more than 19,000 severely wounded, ill, and injured Soldiers, Veterans, their Families and Caregivers at http://www.wtc.army.mil/announcements/aw2_10th_anniversary.html.
