Veterans Day Salute: PA Paul Clouse Returns from Overseas Deployment

The hallways of Trinity Health Medical Group, Primary Care – Walker somehow seemed empty without the towering presence of Paul Clouse, PA-C. For more than six months, the dedicated and compassionate physician assistant was deployed overseas with the U.S. Army − away from his colleagues, patients and family.

Paul is one of only a few Trinity Health Michigan colleagues to go on active duty during full-time employment in recent years.

He joined the medical group part-time in 2018 while working full-time with the Michigan Army National Guard. In 2021, Paul became full-time in Walker, working primarily with Jaime Jo Halverson, DO and Gabriel Barringer, MD.

Dr. Halverson knows the demands of being a veteran in health care. She served seven years of active duty in the U.S. Army. But she feels Paul’s situation is a little different.




“I’ve been with Trinity Health going on 17 years and I don’t know any provider that’s still in the Army National Guard and has been called up and deployed,” she said.

Dr. Halverson was surprised to learn it doesn’t happen very often.

Serving Patients and Country

Paul had always felt a calling to serve both his country and his community. Soon after graduation from St. Johns (Mich.) High School, he enlisted in the Army and served four years in Germany with the Signal Corps. He used his GI Bill to get a master’s degree in physician assistant studies. He has been a PA for more than 20 years, the last five at THMG Primary Care - Walker.

Destination: Kuwait




Paul’s deployment started last January 2023 with the 107^th Engineering Battalion out of Ishpeming, Mich. He first went to Texas for some training and then on to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, which is south of the capital Kuwait City, near the Persian Gulf. Paul also spent some time in Iraq.

“I was with a bunch of Yoopers,” laughed Paul. “They were a great bunch of folks, and I was asked to go with them, so I did.”

As a father, he admits it wasn’t easy to be away from his family. He has four children, ages 29, 25, 19 and 11. And, of course, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.




“My oldest son joined the military, but he’s out now,” explained Paul. “My daughter was an OTC Candidate at the University of Michigan and now she’s a commissioned officer in the National Guard.” His 19-year-old son plays baseball at Grand Rapids Community College and his 11-year-old daughter is a horse lover.




But the unsung champion of the family is Paul’s wife, Amy, an accountant with a career of her own.




“(The deployment) was very challenging. But my wife had a positive experience growing from this,” he said. “Just knowing that she can take care of the house and the kids by herself and handle everything. She did it very well. It was a confidence builder for her.”

Paul admits the isolation while being overseas sometimes got to him. “It was lonely being away from my family,” he said. But email, Zoom and mobile phone calls helped bridge the gap that stretched some 6,600 miles and multiple time zones.

He kept busy tracking injuries and illnesses as they related to the battalion. “When you have folks at work, they’re going to get injured,” Paul said. “Fortunately, nothing really serious.” But he remained prepared. There were seven medics in the clinic where he worked and they treated service members every day, including Sunday. They were able to do some extra training, too.

Typical injuries he treated included lots of sprained ankles, plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis due to all the walking, marches and hikes that service members are required to do. Paul saw many musculoskeletal injuries, coughs, colds, sinus infections and allergies. There was even an outbreak of E. Coli.

“When we first got there, COVID was still a big thing that we were seeing and testing for,” Paul said. But as the months dwindled on, it disappeared. We didn’t really see a resurgence at all there.”

Being deployed overseas, there were some expected cultural differences, too. He went through extensive cultural awareness training.

He admits the work was often dull, with little excitement in his battalion. However, he does have a few compelling memories.

“We did have some folks there from the 44th Street Armory (the Grand Valley Armory in Grand Rapids) with the 125th Infantry Division,” Paul said. “They sustained injuries from a drone attack in Syria and we did have folks from our battalion on that base when it happened.”

“Kuwait is fairly benign when it comes to threats of terrorism.” Iraq, however, was a different story.

“In Iraq, we had to wear protective gear and carry our loaded weapons with us, even on base,” Paul said. “There were always a lot of sirens going off when we were in Iraq. It’s really different up north, a much different atmosphere than it was in Kuwait.”

When his deployment ended in early September, he stepped off a plane and onto American soil. Paul couldn’t help but feel excitement, gratitude and maybe a touch of melancholy. He knew that his time abroad had changed him, and he wondered how long it might take him to reconnect with his colleagues and patients.




It didn’t take long at all.

Paul is part of a small team at the Walker office, which includes two physicians, two physician assistants and three nurse practitioners.

“He’s an absolute joy to work with,” added Dr. Halverson, “He has the most contagious laugh. It’s a booming laugh that when you hear it across a hall, it just makes you smile. Everyone knows when Paul is in the building!”

“His patients have dearly missed him.” Dr. Halverson said.

Now, two months later, Paul’s life and daily routine have found some semblance of normality. Physician Assistant Paul Clouse had come full circle, transitioning from a war zone overseas to serving his community again. He’s back where he belongs and wants to be. Paul was also promoted from Captain to Major in the Army National Guard.

His journey has taught him that true heroes are not defined by the uniform they wear but by the compassion and dedication they bring to their patients and colleagues.

Update

Paul left for another deployment last weekend. He's in Texas helping to reprocess troops back home. He returns to Michigan on Nov. 20.

Trinity Health Michigan Military and Veteran Health Program seeks to identify, celebrate and serve active duty, reserve and veteran service members and their families. This program offers proactive and responsive care tailored to present and former service members and families

Find out more by watching 6 Things to Know About Our Military and Veterans Program on Vimeo.