Lieutenant Liz Lazzari is serving our country in Sharana, Afghanistan as a Platoon Leader in a Forward Operating Base (FOB) Medical Aid Station. Liz still has time to promote volleyball in the country! That’s amazing!
Check out her story below:
Liz is a 2009 graduate of The United States Military Academy West Point. While at West Point, she played volleyball on their Division 1 team and was selected captain of the team for her Junior and Senior years. Following graduation, she became a commissioned officer and had the opportunity to remain at West Point as an Assistant Volleyball Coach for one season.
Liz deployed on August 6. 2010, to FOB Sharana, Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division in the 4th Brigade. (Note: FOB stands for Forward Operating Base) Liz is a 1st Lieutenant and Platoon Leader at the Medical Aid Station, working alongside a variety of medical personnel. Their goal is to provide outstanding medical support for this FOB and all of 4th Brigade.
When a soldier is injured, the medical staff stabilizes the soldier before transfer to a higher level of care facility. They deliver medical supplies via helicopter “drops” to remote areas where infantry are located.
Having a passion for the game of volleyball, Liz found many friends and family generously shipping volleyballs to her in Afghanistan. In addition to playing volleyball with the soldiers, she has been working on getting volleyballs distributed out to the local villages surrounding her FOB. She would like to teach some clinics at the local schools and orphanages and says, “I like to get involved with the culture of this country–so much unrecognized beauty. The people are extremely kind and giving”.
Liz has had the opportunity and challenge of going on some female medical engagement missions to outlying villages. Having a chance to talk with the women and children of Afghanistan, separate from the men, has opened her eyes to this culture and the affect it has had on women. The region Liz works in is one of the most strict regions in the country–and a Taliban stronghold. She has been able to sit and have chai with women and meet their children. And the military recognizes the great source of information that women can be and are now greatly pursuing this concept of FETs (Female Engagement Teams). These teams of females enter villages alongside Infantry platoons and talk with the women, find out what is truly going on in their respective village. This process/concept is extremely important to the mission for Afghanistan.
Liz says, “The goal for us here is to eventually turn our FOB over to the control of the Afghanistan military and so we are teaching them our systems and how we run things and helping them develop systems of their own. It is very exciting to be a part of the process.”
Liz anticipates returning to the United States in August. She will be stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
(Article & Image from Seal Blue)
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