MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Marines and sailors challenged with serious, long-term injury often face an uphill climb toward resuming a life of normalcy.

Supporting these wounded warriors is the II Marine Expeditionary Force Injured Support Unit. The Marines and sailors on the team are responsible for assuring that injured service members and their families have a guiding hand from the Marine Corps to assist them through the rehabilitation and transition process, whether that transition is to a medically-retired status or back to active duty after a period of recovery.

The unit is a new one, said Maj. Daniel L. Hooker, officer-in-charge, II MEF ISU, having been established using the model of the Marine For Life Injured Support program.

Lt. Gen. James F. Amos, commanding general, II MEF, contacted Hooker in April after writing the rough outline of his plan on stationery paper, Hooker said.

“[Amos] was concerned about Marines who both were wounded and those who had recently been medically discharged. He wanted to make sure in addition to the excellent care they were receiving from the Navy, if at any point during their recovery if there was anything they needed, or they should wind up being medically discharged, he wanted to make sure they had a smooth transition to civilian life,” said Hooker.

The main idea, he said, is to make sure Marines and sailors who come into contact with the ISU understand that the Marine Corps has not forgotten about them.

“If [the injured] want any help, whether it was adjustment matters, seeking employment, help with education, or help with any governmental or military bureaucracy there are Marines there to help them,” said Hooker.

The ISU guides Marines, sailors and their families through the veterans’ healthcare system, regardless of the scope or nature of their problem. The team does this by asking the injured a series of questions designed to gauge the service member’s satisfaction with the transition process and identify any problems he may be having.

“Of the wide variety of situations we encounter, some are simple and technical … Others may require significantly more involvement, whether with the [Department of Veterans’ Affairs] or other entities. It’s sort of a situation where the Marines’ responses will tell us about their successful adjustment to civilian life, or lack thereof,” he said.

Master Sgt. Sterling E. Stokes, staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge, ISU, oversees the day-to-day operations of the unit.

“I see us as being a troubleshooting unit. Everything we do when we first come in, under the auspices of [Amos’] guidance, is that we want to make sure we contact all of II MEF wounded, and that is what we do,” said Stokes.

The ISU began on their task of care taking every wounded Marine and sailor by searching back through separations records to Sept. 11, 2001. While this date provided a start point from which to begin their search, said Hooker, by no means does it mean that the ISU will turn away any II MEF service member who contacts the unit with an issue relating to their service-related medical issue.

Nor will they cease providing support for injured warriors beyond a certain date, said Stokes.

“We assist the medically any way they need us to, as long as they need us to, until they no longer need us to,” he said.

With the implementation of the ISU, said Stokes, the phrase, “‘Once a Marine, Always a Marine’ is more real now than it’s ever been.”

Hooker said he feels the Marine Corps is leading the way supporting their injured troops.

“It goes back to our cultural ethos of being a ‘band of brothers.’ We live it and we prove it by having liaison detachments at the hospital, embedded in the VA and creating the [ISU] in the first place,” said Hooker. “We really are a ‘band of brothers,’ and we want to take care of our own. We prove it every day by doing this kind of work.”

For more information regarding II MEF ISU,  or to find out how you can help, contact Maj. Hooker at 910-451-1201, or Master Sgt. Stokes at 910-451-2253. For more information regarding Marine For Life Injured Support, visit http://www.m4l.usmc.mil.