Midwest eye doctor headed to war zone

June 8, 2010

An Iowa optometrist will soon be facing more difficult challenges than an occasional astigmatism.

Dr Ben Uhl will be sent to Afghanistan for over a year to serve American soldiers as well as NATO airmen and local residents.

Uhl told the Chicago Tribune that there are only three American optometrists currently serving in Afghanistan, and that's a problem.

"We're a critical wartime specialty shortage, so they need us," Uhl told the news source. "There are certain occupational specialties the Army doesn't have enough of and optometry is one of them"

Uhl is a member of the Army reserve, so this isn't his first trip abroad. Just four days before he was called to Afghanistan, he returned from a trip to Panama where he treated more than 1,000 local residents in just 10 days.

In addition to irritated eyes caused by the abundance of sand, Uhl will have to deal with a injuries. According to USA Today as of 2007 more than 1,100 veterans, or 13% of all seriously wounded casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, have required surgery for damaged eyes.