IN A US military camp on the Kuwaiti border, Captain David Rozelle is waiting for the order to lead the soldiers under his command into Iraq for a new tour of duty.

A cavalry officer, Rozelle lost his right foot in 2003 in Iraq when a mine planted in a dirt road exploded under his Humvee. After a gruelling recovery, he is the first amputee to return to combat duty in Iraq.

He is proud to be pioneering a route back to active service for seriously wounded soldiers. “I didn’t want the terrorists to decide for me whether I stayed in the army or not,” he said.

“I hope I’m going to break the ice for others to follow. It’s not easy but I’m going to prove it can be done.”

With the help of a C-Leg, a prosthetic limb with electronic sensors that gives him a normal gait, Rozelle, 33, can outrun most men under his command. “There are a few young bucks who can beat me,” he admitted ruefully, “but not many.”

Medical advances are enabling many more soldiers with amputations to do the previously unthinkable and stay in the military.

“I won’t be out raiding houses, but in Iraq the battlefield is everywhere and I am more than prepared to fight,” said Rozelle, who will be stationed at a regimental headquarters.

Lieutenant-General Franklin Hagenbeck, the army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel, said other injured servicemen would also go back to Iraq or Afghanistan. “They take with them invaluable experience and insight,” he said. “They are great for morale and they have great tactical experience.”

On a visit to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington in 2003, President George W Bush announced: “When we’re talking about forced discharge, we’re talking about another age. Today, if wounded service members want to remain in uniform and can do the job, the military tries to help them.”

His comments boosted the hopes of injured servicemen that they would be able to rebuild careers as well as shattered bodies. Yet for many it seemed an impossible goal.

Staff Sergeant Josh Olson, 25, lost his leg right up to the hip bone when his convoy was attacked with a rocket- propelled grenade in northern Iraq. When Bush presented him with a Purple Heart in hospital in December 2003, Olson was certain that he was on the fast track to a discharge.

A fortnight ago he heard that he had been declared fit for combat. “It’s made me feel great,” he said. “Everything I’ve worked for is paying off.” A talented sharp-shooter, he will join the army marksmanship team and train national guardsmen. Olson can walk without a cane or crutches, but has yet to be fitted with a running leg.

George Perez, 21, is heading to Afghanistan with his paratroop regiment in May after losing his foot in Falluja. A photograph of his boot, with its laces still tied and blown yards away from the rest of him, became a famous image in Time magazine.

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