In the spring of 2007, Sgt. 1st Class Sualauvi "Sua" Tuimalealiifano of Kalihi, with the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) — an elite special operations team — was fighting with Green Berets at a location outside firebase Cobra in southern Afghanistan when the team was ambushed by Taliban fighters.

Tuimalealiifano was left paralyzed from the neck down from injuries suffered when he was hurled from his gun truck in that firefight.

Around that same time the U.S. Army had begun installing what it termed Warrior transition units at three dozen military installations around the U.S., including Hawai'i. The units were designed to provide critically needed support for wounded soldiers returning from conflicts in the Middle East.

The units had become necessary because advances in body armor and medical treatment techniques meant injured service members, such as Tuimalealiifano, were surviving in far greater numbers than at any time in recorded modern combat.

A soldier wounded in World War II had a 67.8 percent chance of survival, according to Department of Defense statistics. By the time of the Vietnam War, those chances had climbed to 86.5 percent.

Today, with 120,000 soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the survival rate has soared to 97 percent, said Bob Moore, chief of the Strategic Communications Division of the Warrior Transition Command in Virginia.

The Warrior transition units are part of the new military order, which strives to keep injured soldiers in the service whenever possible, Moore said.

"At least 16,000 soldier have been through the units since we began this process in the middle of 2007," said Moore, who stressed that 52 percent of those soldiers have returned to active duty.

"There's a very strong emphasis to retain soldiers wherever we can. The Warrior Care and Transition program runs the entire continuum of retaining them in the service to transitioning them to civilian life."

HUGE PROGRESS

Many who leave the program and return to active duty have fully recovered.

Tuimalealiifano, 30, represents a rare case — the severely injured warrior who returns to active duty despite overwhelming disabilities, Moore said.

During Tuimalealiifano's months of treatment at hospitals from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the Tampa, Fla., VA hospital for spinal injuries, he was told he would never move his arms or legs again. His weight dropped from 240 pounds to 167 in little more than 60 days.

"The doctors told him to pretty much lay down and die — these are your injuries, this is what you'll never do," recalled his wife, Shannon. "Before the end of the year he was moving himself in his own wheelchair, when they said he would need a breathing machine and a power wheelchair for life."

Though he remains a quadriplegic, Tuimalealiifano had regained some use of his arms and hands by the end of the year. He credits his exceptional progress to his special operations training.

On Dec. 8, 2007, Tuimalealiifano re-enlisted at a ceremony in the Tampa VA hospital. Among those in attendance was Lt. Col. Leo Ruth, commander of the 96th CAB — Tuimalealiifano's special ops unit in Afghanistan.

"It's an honor standing in today to witness the re-enlistment of a great American paratrooper who has sacrificed a lot for this great nation," Ruth said.

All that was before Tuimalealiifano returned to Hawai'i in January 2009 and was introduced to Tripler Army Medical Center's Warrior transition unit, which consists of a multidisciplinary team of physicians, case managers, specialty care providers and occupational therapists.

Today, he is one of 256 "Warriors in transition" assigned to the unit. He is also part of the battalion's "wounded warriors" program, which is made up of a cadre of 120 specialized personnel who assist with the rehabilitative requirements for Tuimalealiifano and others with severe injuries.

'BRAND NEW WORLD'

Tuimalealiifano still considers himself a warrior. But the battleground for him has changed. One foe he had to conquer was his own pride. That was especially tough in the beginning, he says. But he got the hang of it in part by devoting his free time to talking with returning soldiers who have been wounded in action. That has become his personal mission.

"That's exactly my assignment," he said.

He has recently been assigned to a work program at U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith. It will be a desk job — placid terrain for a highly trained special operations combat warrior. But he says he's lucky to have been given the opportunity.

"It's a brand new world, because there is such an emphasis on helping these soldiers," said Fred Browning, Tuimalealiifano's Wounded Warrior advocate, a former Green Beret who was himself twice wounded in combat in Vietnam.

"They needed a civil affairs intelligence type person at Camp Smith," said Browning. "So he's going to go up there and work for them initially a couple of days a week in the special operations office."

Another uphill battle is the fight to gain independence in his home. The Army offered to provide ADA-compliant quarters at Schofield Barracks for Tuimalealiifano, his wife and three children — but not his extended family.

For a Samoan such as Tuimalealiifano, the extended family is too important to exclude. So, he bought a home in Kapolei big enough to accommodate himself, his wife and kids, as well as his parents and siblings.

To make the place handicapped accessible will cost $178,000. The Veterans Administration has committed to providing $60,000 to that end. The catch is that the VA money won't arrive until after Tuimalealiifano has secured the rest of the money. Tuimalealiifano hasn't yet been able to raise or borrow his share in part because of the recession and credit crunch.

Meanwhile, Tuimalealiifano makes do. He showers in the backyard in a makeshift plywood and garden hose set-up built by a friend. He relies on family to assist him around the house. He never gives up.

"I sincerely believe everything will work out," he said. "I joined the Army, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I have no regrets."