From Team Captain to Army Captain

Nov. 12, 2009

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Friday, the women's college basketball season begins. Players will put on their uniforms, lace up their shoes and begin their quest to fulfill a dream of playing for a national championship.

Friday, former OU women's basketball star Caton Hill begins her first tour of duty. She will put on her fatigues, lace up her boots and fulfill her commitment to our national defense. On the week we celebrate Veterans Day, Hill will join the millions who have served and will serve the United States.

Her deployment will take her from Hunter Army Airfield to briefing at a U.S. base in Uzbekistan and then to her mission in Afghanistan. There, Cpt. Caton Hill will serve as the primary physician for the approximately 350 pilots of the Army's Third Infantry "Task Force Brawlers."

"You pretty much become the pilots' and crews' main doctor," Hill said during a conference call Wednesday. "That's what I'm doing right now. I'm attached to an aviation brigade. And I'm their Doc. I have a PA (physician's assistant) that works with me but I'm the only M.D. and I go with them wherever they are and take care of them."

Hill, who played for the Sooners from 2000 to 2004, made her decision to enter military service just as her basketball career had finished. Upon acceptance into OU's College of Medicine, she was matched with a branch of the military that would support her financially.

"When I got accepted, I committed to the United States Army and they paid for my medical school and in return I paid them back with service."

More on Cpt. Caton Hill: ESPN.com | The Oklahoman | Associated Press
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Hill's ties with the military were already deeply threaded. Before moving to Ada, Okla., she grew up at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Both her father, Howard, a retired lieutenant colonel, and uncle, John Binkley, a retired colonel, served in Vietnam. Her brother, Andrew, a former OU ROTC member, is currently studying at a military medical school in Bethesda, Md.

"I had other options for medical school. I wanted to join because I think that not only taking care of soldiers but going and taking care of people that are fighting for you is one of the most honorable things you can do."

After receiving her medical degree, Hill trained at Eisenhower Medical Center at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga., which is coincidentally staffed with another former OU basketball star, Phylesha Whaley.

For the last three months, Hill has been at Hunter, learning the ropes as a flight surgeon and meeting the pilots and crews for whom she will care.

"You get briefed in IEDs (improvised explosive device). The way that they explode is different than any other injury you would see stateside. You learn how gunshot wounds enter and, we call it yaw, once they get inside the cavity how they move. We also need to know about traumatic brain injuries and blasts with all the pressure changes and how they affect soldiers. You really have to be aware of concussions that aren't always obvious. So there's a lot of stuff like that ... you have to be vigilant about."

The days and weeks leading to her deployment certainly have had Hill unnerved at times.

"The build-up over the last couple of months is just trying to get everything done before I leave. From getting all the immunizations, getting all the gear, moving out and setting yourself up to be gone for a year -- it's stressful.

"It's gotten to the point where I just want to get on the plane. Just like anything, the buildup can be exhausting. As far as going away for a year, I'm excited to get there and do what I've been trying to do to take care of my soldiers."

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The realization of departing to a combat zone has set, but Hill has focused on the duty she is to perform.

"You know, you're going to war. Some people really don't get that. I'm excited and I think it's going to be a great experience, but I mean it's still scary. You have got to respect the situation.

"But I'm also the doctor. I'm not going to be out there (fighting). They keep me kind of hubbed because I need to take care of them."

Hill believes much of her confidence can be traced back to her experiences as a Sooner.

"Just going through medical school and my experiences, I've realized that I have a sense of motivation that a lot of people had not developed yet. I think I've attributed it to the sports trials that I had.

"A lot of the challenges that you do in basketball are physical and mental. My fifth year, when I came back from my ACL tear, I struggled a bit and we struggled a bit (as a team). That time was probably the most growth I had because I was really having to, mentally, get over some barriers that I had by the injury. If I had to point to a specific moment I would say that year and really fighting through those mental barriers and getting stronger as a person. I think that probably helped me the most."

At Oklahoma, Hill will forever be one of the legends. Her toughness was her strength: she started (139) and played (140) in more games than any other player in Big 12 history. Her versatility was her weapon: she's the only player in OU history to have the unique combination of collecting over 1,000 rebounds and 200 steals in a career.

Hill, a member of both OU's first Big 12 Championship and Final Four teams, and her teammates keep in regular contact. Lately, the attention has been on the future more than the past.

"If you're not around the military it's kind of an intimidating thing. The majority of my friends were never around it. If you're not around it a lot, it's kind of scary. Lots of people, when I joined, were asking me why I would do that. I think it just brought it closer to home that it is someone they are friends with that is going."

Hill and head coach Sherri Coale also text or talk once or twice a month.

"She told me last week that college basketball was hard," Coale said. "And in a weird sort of way that made me insanely proud.

"She was never the biggest or the fastest and I used to joke that you could put a couple of pieces of paper under her feet when she jumped. But she found a way to get the job done -- whatever it was you asked her to do."

So today, Hill will finish packing her bags with issued gear, some chemical warfare equipment and a little personality -- a recently-purchased, stuffed version of Yoda from Star Wars for the self-described "sci-fi geek."

"You just have so much camo and everything," Hill said, "you almost need a little bit of quirkiness. So I'm going to try and get him in there."

Friday, she'll be on her way to get the job done -- whatever it is her country asks her to do.

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