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Wounded airman wants decision on staying in

After spending almost four years recovering from a bomb blast in Afghanistan, Tech. Sgt. Israel Del Toro wants to stay in uniform and teach others to be a JTAC like he was.

Whether he’ll get to is anybody’s guess.

First, the Air Force has to allow Del Toro, who also went to Bosnia and Iraq as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller, to continue serving. His case is winding its way through the medical evaluation process right now.

Del Toro, who has had more than 100 reconstructive surgeries for burns that cover 80 percent of his body, expects the board to declare him 100 percent disabled. He is hopeful — almost confident — that the Air Force will also give him a waiver.

The concern for Del Toro really is whether the Air Force will pay him the $90,000 re-enlistment bonus offered to airmen in his Air Force Specialty Code.

“It’s not like I’m sitting on my ass, going to therapy and coming home,” said Del Toro, 34. “I speak to groups. I speak at schools. I do charity work. I think I’ve earned my bonus.”

As of Oct. 29, the Air Force had not responded to requests for information about Del Toro.

Del Toro, who joined in 1997 was up again for re-enlistment in June 2007, said service officials told him that Air Force attorneys are studying the matter.

“Two and a half years ago, I wanted to re-enlist but they wouldn’t let me,” he said. “I didn’t care about the bonus [but] my options have dramatically decreased for getting jobs [in the civilian world] because of my injuries. I have gotten a little frustrated.”

The Air Force extended Del Toro’s enlistment through June 2009 and again through January 2010.

Since 2007, Del Toro has been an outspoken advocate for wounded warriors and their families. He talks often with Air Force leaders about what they need to do for their airmen.

Del Toro said he is such a fixture that the Air Force secretary, chief of staff and chief master sergeant of the Air Force all have assured him he can stay in uniform.

Perhaps what touches Del Toro most, though, are the letters from leaders in his career field, telling him they want him back.

“They know I want to stay in,” he said. “They know I want to re-enlist. They know I want to be an instructor.”

In Afghanistan, Del Toro, of Detachment 1, 4th Air Support Operations Group, out of Vicenza, Italy, was assigned to the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, also from Vicenza.

On the morning of Dec. 4, 2005, Del Toro’s unit went on a mission with a scout team. The troops split into two groups, one moving ahead and the other staying behind on a mountain as overwatch.

It wasn’t long before the troops learned through radio chatter that Taliban fighters were watching them.

The Army lieutenant leading the mission took part of the team into a nearby village. The search came up empty, but just as the team prepared to leave, the lieutenant saw an insurgent take off down a ridge, Del Toro said.

The Americans went after him and came up behind three insurgents.

“I got a shot and wanted to fire, but the lieutenant wanted to capture them,” Del Toro said. “I told the lieutenant, ‘By the time we get down there they’ll be gone, let me shoot,’ but the lieutenant insisted. We chased the guys, but they were gone.”

So the soldiers and Del Toro returned to their Humvees and started to head back to link up with the rest of the team.

As the convoy crossed a creek, the Humvee that Del Toro was riding in rolled over a pressure-plate improvised explosive device.

His thoughts immediately turned to his wife, Carmen, and his son, Israel III, now 7.

“We were going to get married, go to Greece, I have to teach my boy to play ball,” Del Toro said.

He quickly realized he was on fire and tried to jump into the creek but collapsed before he could get there.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to die here. I broke my promise to my wife that I’d be back. I’ll never see my son again,’ ” he said.

But the lieutenant’s voice broke into his thoughts.

“I heard the lieutenant say, ‘DT, you’re not going to die here,’ ” Del Toro said.

The lieutenant grabbed him and helped him to the creek.

“You heard this sizzle sound,” Del Toro said, as they both hit the water.

The rest of the team on top of the mountain was coming under fire, Del Toro said.

“They were calling for [close-air support], but my radio was destroyed,” he said.

So Del Toro had one of the soldiers get on the proper frequency and, burned and broken, coached the soldier on how to request close-air support.

“As he’s doing this, I’m getting tired, I’m having a hard time breathing,” said Del Toro, whose call sign was Gunslinger 32.

The soldiers talked to him and kept him awake until the medevac helicopter arrived about 20 minutes later.

At the field hospital at Forward Operating Base Laghman, Del Toro remembers seeing his teammates and Army buddies.

“I remember the doctor cutting off my watch and telling me, ‘You’ll be OK,’” he said. “The next thing I remember is waking up in March 2006.”

When Del Toro woke up from a three-month coma, doctors gave him a 20 percent chance to live. They predicted he would remain in the hospital for a year to 18 months, probably never walk again and have to be on a respirator the rest of his life.

A month later, Del Toro was released from the intensive care unit; two months later, Del Toro was walking and breathing on his own.

In all, he suffered third-degree burns to 80 percent of his body, lost his fingers to partial amputations, suffered nerve damage to his right leg and inhalation burns in his lungs.

To date, the surgeries total 115.

“I’m tired, but I have a young boy,” Del Toro said. “I know how kids can be cruel. He’s so protective of me. If [the surgeries] make me look more normal for my son so he can avoid ridicule, I’ll do it for my son.”

Del Toro still has physical and occupational therapy four or five times a week and several minor surgeries to come. He has one major surgery left, to rebuild his left hand.

Despite all he has been through, Del Toro still loves his job and wants to serve six more years — if his body will let him.

“When you find a job you love, it’s great being in it,” he said. “My team, they’re like family. You’re never going to find another place like [the military], the brotherhood, the camaraderie.”

More about Israel Del Toro

* Del Toro fights to stay in

* Inspirational airman gives wife dream wedding

* Severely burned JTAC continues his recovery