Chairborne — Ben Hofmeister

I’ve never been one to worry too much about what my purpose in life is. It’s not that I’m incapable of being philosophical, or that I was ever too egotistical to think I needed one. I suppose…

Recently, I was asked about the design on the left side of my “Chairborne” banner. A friend from my previous occupation humorously noted that in the original graphic, there’s a skull in the center where the wheelchair now…

“Being diagnosed later in life is like watching a TV show with a huge plot twist revealed at the end of the season and then rewatching it with this new knowledge, picking up on all the foreshadowing and…

Years before joining the Army crossed my mind, I was a Boy Scout. We learned all sorts of skills, earned merit badges, and, of course, spent lots of time hiking and camping. I have many fond memories of…

Ten minutes away from the drop zone, we stood up and began the final preparations for the jump. The aircraft flew in anything but a straight line as it turned, banked, and swiftly changed altitude. This unpredictable flying technique…

I like to look up. No, I’m not referring to my disposition, although I do consider it to be an improvement over what it once was. I’m actually pretty sunny, if you happen to think of “sunny” as…

This morning, at an unholy hour, our family awoke to the sound of alarm bells. Well, not bells, but rather the gentle yet insistent sound of one of Alexa’s alarms. Actually, we changed the name of our…

I’m not a doctor, just a patient. And depending on whom you ask, I’m not a very good one, either — unless you happen to be fond of lots of questions. I was a medic in the U.S.

About three years before my multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis and subsequent retirement, I found myself in Iraq preparing for a mission. I was going out with a different team from another branch of the U.S. military, and the…

I am not left-handed! No, I’m not channeling Westley or Inigo from “The Princess Bride,” just clarifying a common — and fair — assumption. While I now do nearly everything left-handed, including eating, drinking, and even typing…

I must look like I need help all the time. I don’t own a shirt or any other article of clothing that says so, and I don’t think I have a helpless look on my face, either. I…

A few — OK, many — years ago, I played the lead in a production of “Oklahoma!” Don’t get excited; it wasn’t on Broadway or anything like that. It was a high school production, and I suspect I…

I didn’t seek support immediately after my diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). To be fair, MS was just an annoyance to me at the beginning. It was simply a set of symptoms, and I was initially…

Einstein said that time is relative, and as I age (gracefully, I hope), I’ve found that to be true. For example, I frequently find myself referring to events that occurred a decade or more in the past…

In the not-too-distant past, a friend shared a video clip from a competitive event with a few of us. One of the competitors had a shock of gray hair and was slowed by a noticeable limp. “Watch how smooth…

Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) — a training program for entry into the U.S. Army Special Forces — is rare, even among military courses. It has grueling physical aspects, but the majority of it is mental. It’s…

My shoelaces keep coming untied, my compression socks are bunched up, I bumped my shins with the vacuum again, and the shower was too hot this morning. Confused? Don’t be. I’m just getting in the spirit of…

I’ve always liked the phrase “go with what you know.” I suppose I understood it to mean “stick to what you’re good at” or simply, “stay in your lane.” Recently, though, I stumbled on a slightly different meaning that…

I used to sing — a lot. Don’t worry, I didn’t miss my true calling. I could carry a tune, but that was about it. I was loud, and just like arguing, volume can make up for a lack…