Oral History Interview, Aaron Swaner (2382)

Abstract

This interview is a conversation with Aaron Swaner, a Wisconsin-native who enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to study civil engineering in 2003, and to join UW’s NROTC program. Swaner was deployed in Afghanistan for 10 months with a team of Navy SEALs working as an explosive ordnance disposal technician. On the front lines of a new type of war, Swaner said those back home didn’t understand the seriousness of his situation. His job was to lead missions into rural Afghani towns, disarming IEDs along the way, to educate local Afghani forces on how to defend themselves from the Taliban, all the while facing sporadic firefights with Taliban members. During one such mission, Swaner’s experienced a blast that left him with a TBI, though he wasn’t diagnosed and medically discharged until after his deployment in 2016. Swaner shares the details of his deployment, his struggles with TBI treatment and PTSD, as well as his overarching feelings about his service. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Badger Veterans Project of the UW-Madison Archives and Records Management Oral History Program.