WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. -- Editor's note : Having - ity to recover from or adjust to misfortune or change is the definition of resilience, and that's something the Air Force wants all personnel to have as they deal with the stress that is part of their daily lives as they support the Air Force mission.

A group of five certified Master Resilience Trainers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is training resilience training assistants so resilience courses may be offered across the installation. The training is incorporated into Professional Military Education, Airmen Leadership School (ALS), Wingman Day and training for specific units and organizations.

The following profile features an Airman who exemplifies the training's identified resilience components: counting blessings; examining how one's brain reacts to an event; checking your playbook; balancing your thinking; instant-balancing your thinking; accomplishing goals; being mindful; drawing meaning from difficult situations; being spiritually resilient; being physically resilient; solving interpersonal problems; listening well; and responding in an active, constructive way.  

The morning of March 2, 2008, Maj. Timothy O'Sullivan awoke in Basra, Iraq, prior to a scheduled combat mission with a sense that something bad was about to happen that day.

As an Air Force combat logistics advisor, he was there to mentor and train members of the Iraqi Army 14th Division. Embedded with British forces, the Royal Dragoon Guards, he was traveling in a British armored vehicle.

Luckily he had put in his earplugs, which soon saved most of his hearing, but as he was talking to his interpreter sitting across from him, he braced himself by placing his right arm on the back wall of the vehicle. That's where an 80-pound improvised explosively formed projectile hit, the shockwave and shrapnel ultimately costing O'Sullivan some bones in his wrist, bruising his kidneys and causing internal bleeding and a traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Another device was detected, forcing O'Sullivan and other injured crew members to wait for an explosive ordnance disposal team to arrive.

"After regaining consciousness, I awoke with a feeling of anger mixed with a sense of vulnerability until I heard an F-16 flying at low-level altitude directly over our vehicle. That sound of the F-16 provided me with a sense of security and relief," he recalled. "I knew it was there to help provide overhead protection for us."

Immediately following the incident he was treated by British medical personnel at the local central operating base followed by U.S. personnel in Kuwait. Eventually O'Sullivan was medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Md.; Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, Texas; and finally James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, Fla., because he lived in Tampa and was based at MacDill AFB.

The hospital's Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center is one of five VA facilities in the country designed to provide intensive rehabilitative care to veterans and active-duty service members who have experienced severe TBIs.

Eventually O'Sullivan was able to continue his career at U.S. Central Command HQ, where he served as a principal advisor to the Combatant Commander (Gen. David Petraeus, U.S. Army; and Gen. James Mat-tis, U.S. Marine Corps) on security assistance and security cooperation activities regarding Oman and Qatar.       

He now serves an instructor and class manager for the Security Cooperation Action Officer Course at the Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management (DIS-AM) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Hanging on his office bulletin board are "souvenirs" from his British comrades - three pieces of shrapnel from the blast and the bomb itself.

His 21-year Air Force career has taken him to many places and assignments. He was part of the initial special operations task force in southwest Asia and provided additional assistance in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. He also has worked in acquisitions for the Global Hawk program during his first tour at Wright-Patterson AFB and as an instructor at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). He was on active duty until December 2013.

His service has not gone unrecognized. O'Sullivan's distinguished awards include the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Air Force Combat Action Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Distinguished Presidential Unit Citation. 

Recovery is tough but doable.

As he recovered from the blast, O'Sullivan wanted to go back to his team overseas, but his neurologist said another hit would be disastrous for him. An orthopedist later informed him that deployments like the one he served would not be feasible, noting that he would not be able to pull a comrade's body out of harm's way quickly enough if needed.

"You get a sense of withdrawal after being right there in the fight. It's the difference between saving people's lives one minute and then the next you're left with choices like picking out a box of cereal in a store at home," he said, likening his experience to a scene involving a grocery store in the movie 'The Hurt Locker.'

"Returning back to the fight can often serve as a sense of distraction; when you are deployed your mind is on the mission and if you're not going back, then all you have is time to learn how to deal with the trauma you've experienced," O'Sullivan said.

He works on his fitness, doing modified pushups in his office on equipment he keeps there. He also rides a bike and works out at the gym. He has spent a lot of time with therapists at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, pronouncing them, "fantastic."

"Being someone with a TBI, you don't see the effect of it from within. Somebody who knows you and has a conversation with you is going to recognize it," he commented.

Opening up and counting his and blessings.

For years, O'Sullivan didn't talk about his experiences from his deployments overseas.

But being a former acquisition employee, he said he recognizes the hard work done at Wright-Patterson AFB.

"A lot of times acquisition employees don't hear the impact of what they're doing and how it affects the warfighter," he said. "Somebody from the acquisition community put that aircraft in the air, like the F-16 that provided my security and sense of comfort when I most needed it."

O'Sullivan began speaking to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and its various program offices, including the C-5, KC-46 and F-22.
  
"It's therapy for me, but it's also rewarding for them, to hear that what they're doing is important," he said.

He credits his wife, Kristen, who works on base in the C-17 program, and two young children, born since his injury, with opening his eyes and showing him another purpose for his life.

"I count my blessings.... I think about how fortunate I am and how it could have been much worse. There's always something worse. I have my own methods of coping with my issues but my family and friends have made the difference - that's for sure," O'Sullivan said.
  
He was an instructor at AFIT, running the System 400 course, and heard a speech by a guest speaker about Gold Star families, an organization open to any American family that has lost a son or a daughter in service to the U.S.

"It was a form of therapy for me to talk to the acquisition community and give back, to help them recognize that what they do is really important," he said. "The question that always went through my mind is: why am I here? Why did I make it home? Survivor's guilt comes. That is one of the challenges for me with the Gold Star families, and I've told them that. Why their son or daughter? Why not me? All I can do is give them a hug. They have made the biggest sacrifice."

Be positive, constructive and just listen.

O'Sullivan participated in his first "wounded warrior" type of event, saying nothing has "reached" him like the Ohio Challenge Warrior Weekend to Remember, held in Middletown July 10-13 as part of the Halo for Freedom Warrior Foundation. Events included a hot air balloon ride, skydiving, marksmanship, a golf outing and a 5k run/ walk race.

"There's camaraderie right away," he said. "I've been to therapists and counselors but nothing compares with getting together with guys who have been through the same experiences."

He's pleased to have been asked to play a prominent role in organizing next summer's repeat event.

"That's therapy for me, to do this for someone else who hasn't had a chance to participate in it," O'Sullivan acknowledged.

As he reflects on his life and career, he is thoughtful.

"Having had the opportunity to work directly for General Petraeus and General Mattis, those experiences; my wife and children; the great people I met during the Halo event - none of that would have happened if I didn't have a positive outlook. For those who are going through something like I have, I want to say it can get better. You don't know what is going   to come next. Don't be afraid to talk about it. Don't hide it.

"For other people, listen if someone wants to talk about it. Just be an ear and listen," he advised.

Final words about resilience

O'Sullivan has to concentrate to keep his thoughts organized and work around short-term memory loss.

"It's taken time to get to the point where I am today," he said. "It can be comical, too - my wife and I go back and forth about whether a conversation took place (when it has). I count my blessings that she's been able to deal with it."

He says he has to work hard on his DISAM lesson plans and listening skills but is optimistic about the future.
  
"Life goes on," O'Sullivan said.