I commissioned as a US Army officer and served four years, including a combat deployment to Baghdad in 2008 and 2009. I led a reconnaissance platoon through hundreds of missions in some of the most contested terrain of the Iraq War. You learn to operate in chaos. You learn to trust your training and your people. You learn that preparation determines outcome long before the mission starts.
I left the Army with a disability rating and a mind that was still oriented toward planning, structure, and execution. What I didn't leave with was a reliable way to apply that to something as personal as my own body.