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thing from my mind,’’ Woll said.
But then a few years ago, his son’s best
friend — a guy who, as a kid, spent many
days and nights at the Woll house —
returned from his second tour in Iraq. He
told Woll about the need for doctors and
urged him to consider doing more than just
support the soldiers. He suggested Woll
become a solider.
After the seed was planted, it wasn’t long
before Woll told his family he wanted to
join the reserves.
“Initially, they thought I was going off the
deep end,’’ Woll said. “But they’ve come
around. The whole family has been support-
ive.’’
Then Woll got to work.
The Portland resident started training with
the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office to
learn to handle and fire a gun. Two and a
half years later, Woll is a firearms coach for
the agency.
Two years ago, Woll weighed 235 pounds
and was “way out of shape.’’ Motivated by
his desire to serve in the military, Woll start-
a member of U.S. Army Reserves.
In June, Woll was commissioned as a lieu-
tenant colonel — a rank determined by his
profession and number of years in medicine
— in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps.
‘They say you win more hearts and minds with
Band-Aids than you do with bullets’
— T. Scott Woll
ed exercising daily and made changes to his
diet.
Now he’s 180 pounds and can meet and
surpass all of the Army’s physical require-
ments.
And after two years of waivers, approvals
and testing, the 58-year-old finally became
He’s been assigned to the 396th combat
support hospital based at the U.S. Army
Reserve Center in east Vancouver.
He’ll participate in monthly training with
the local unit until heading to San Antonio
in October for officer training. After that,
Woll will be ready to be mobilized to in-
country hospitals or deployed overseas.
He’s requested to go overseas for medical
diplomacy missions. During such missions,
which last a couple of months, Woll would
care for anyone who needs it — U.S. sol-
diers, civilians, kids, police officers, local
soldiers and insurgents.
“They say you win more hearts and minds
with Band-Aids than you do with bullets,’’
Woll said.
Whatever the assignment, Woll hopes his
skills and decades of experience as an
orthopedic surgeon can help the men and
women — the “true patriots’’ — serving
their country.
“If I can save somebody’s limbs, that’ll be
rewarding enough,’’ he said. “It’s a way to
give back to a country and a career that’s
given me a lot.’’
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Page 8 The Seattle Skanner
August 8, 2012
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