Tucson surgeon off to war for third time
by Sheryl Kornman on Nov. 12, 2008, under Local, Nation/World, SpecialHe heads to Afghanistan to aid in fight against Taliban
Dr. James Balserak has served two tours in Iraq and will go to Afghanistan in January.
Tucson surgeon James Balserak, 44, is off to war for the third time in four years.
Balserak will spend the winter with troops fighting the Taliban in the Afghan hills, he said Tuesday.
He departs Jan. 3 and returns in mid-March.
The Air National Guard colonel will be chief trauma surgeon at Bagram Air Field, about 27 miles north of Kabul.
The surgeon expects to see plenty of action.
“Supposedly the Taliban will be operating through the winter,” Balserak said.
Bagram is headquarters for the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. It includes some 4,000 airmen who are based throughout Afghanistan providing aerial support for U.S. and coalition forces on the ground.
The physician is commander of the Tucson Air National Guard’s 162nd Medical Group, based at Tucson International Airport. He served deployments in Baghdad in 2004 and 2007.
Once again he will leave his wife and two young sons and his surgical practice for the unpredictability of war. His father, a retired Army colonel, and mother live in Oro Valley.
“My wife (Kristi) . . . sees the frustrations I bring home working in a private practice and, I believe, realizes that from a mental health standpoint, it is necessary for me to have a change of scenery.
“Financially, especially now, deploying voluntarily makes absolutely no sense, but that is not the point or purpose,” he said.
Balserak said he will leave for this deployment with great pride.
“I go back because living, working and serving in a combat environment is extremely rewarding both personally and professionally,” he said.
“It is about keeping watch over the men and women of the Armed Forces that serve and protect our country, our freedoms, voluntarily.
“I will be sad when the time comes that I can’t do that any longer.”
The deployment is a challenge for his sons, who are 13 and 10, he said, but Balserak sees his military service as a lesson for them.
“My boys worry that something could happen and that is their only true concern. They know I like it, know that I love them and (they) are learning that service before self builds character.”
Balserak also will miss working with the Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training in February and March. He handled the team physicals for four years and enjoys working with the athletes.
In his second deployment to Baghdad, from May to September last year, Balserak coordinated medical and surgical care with the Multinational Coalition Iraq Surgeons Directorate for U.S. and coalition forces. He served as commander of the Air National Guard’s 447th Medical Squadron at a hospital built by the U.S. Army at Sather Air Force Base in Baghdad. Many of the dead Americans he saw were 18, 19 and 20 years old, he said.
Twenty-three Tucsonans, members of the 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron, served with him.
On this deployment, he will go alone. Some members of the 162nd Medical Group here may deploy next summer, he said.
The 162nd Medical Group recently completed an Air Force Health Services Inspection and scored a 98 out of 100.
The Air Force Inspection Agency’s Medical Directorate determined the score.
“It is what I have been working for as the commander of the 162nd Medical Group for the past four years. It is the pinnacle of my command,” Balserak said.
The rating makes it the premier medical group among the 89 Air National Guard Medical Groups nationally, he said.
“I am so very proud of my folks,” Balserak said.
“So now that this big inspection is behind us, I quite honestly need a break. What better place to go than Afghanistan?”
