Despite serious wounds, this UofL alumnus sees no limits

By Kevin Hyde

It was called Operation Volcano II and the mission was to capture a senior leader of the infamous Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army. The high-level insurgent was holed up in Karbala, the large Iraqi city located some 60 miles southwest of Baghdad. 

Maj. Kent Solheim, a University of Louisville graduate and Green Beret, was in the unit that “fast roped” into the city center from helicopters during the predawn hours of July 27, 2007, and set up a position near the target building as other soldiers charged in to capture the insurgent leader. 

That’s when all hell broke loose.

The soldiers were attacked from three sides with rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) and AK-47 machine gun fire. As the chaotic firefight got heavier—bullets and explosions ringing throughout the dark, urban streets—air support was called in. But a large band of enemy soldiers remained to the north of Solheim and his unit. 

This photo of Green Beret Kent Solheim was taken during an earlier mission in Afghanistan when he was still a captain.

Using the dust that the helicopters had kicked up to conceal their movements, the insurgents targeted one of the American positions near Solheim, who aggressively maneuvered his men to reinforce the beleaguered soldiers. That’s when he noticed an enemy soldier armed with an RPG less than 30 feet away. He charged forward, shot and killed the insurgent, saving several Americans with no time to spare.

 When he realized that the soldiers in the building were in grave danger, Solheim again exposed himself to enemy fire to get a better position to cover them. In the final moments of the engagement, he rounded a corner and found himself face to face with a Mahdi fighter. Solheim fired. But as the enemy soldier fell fatally wounded to the ground, he let loose one last burst from his AK-47, wounding Solheim in the legs and back. Bleeding heavily, he was evacuated by foot to the outskirts of the city and eventually taken away by helicopter.

The Mahdi Army leader was captured. The operation was a success. Kent Solheim saved dozens of American lives that night in Karbala, earning a Silver Star for his bravery. But he lost his right leg in the process.

UofL on Post

Growing up in the Northwest, Solheim was active in several different sports as a kid—especially drawn to cycling and running. In 1994 Solheim joined the Army, looking for some direction and purpose in his life. Starting as a Calvary Scout, he excelled in the military and by 1999 was an officer. In 2001 he joined Special Forces.

When Solheim was commissioned an officer, he was stationed at Fort Knox. As part of officer training he was required to go to college, so he began attending classes at UofL’s College of Education and Human Development through the Fort Knox Center.

UofL is on post at Fort Knox, offering a variety of onsite and online courses in top-rated, relevant college programs. The university is a participant in “GoArmyEd” and has been a partner for more than 35 years in delivering educational programs to members of the U.S. Armed Forces at the center. The Fort Knox Center includes a state- of-the-art computer laboratory and newly renovated classrooms. Soldiers also take classes on Belknap campus.

“The staff at the Fort Knox Center is great,” Solheim says. “They really go out of their way to help.”

Solheim earned his bachelor’s degree in education in 2002, specializing in occupational training and development. A gifted student, he continued his UofL education even while serving tours in Afghanistan. He was only three courses shy of a master’s in human resource education when he was shipped to Iraq in spring 2007. 

His plan was to finish his degree online from Iraq. 

Our Soldier Students

Several faculty and staff identified Solheim as an exceptional person and student during his time with the Fort Knox Center, says Carolyn Rude-Parkins, the UofL education professor who was Solheim’s adviser and instructor during his master’s studies.

“He enrolled in online courses with the plan to proceed through the program while in Iraq,” recalls Parkins, who retired from UofL last year. “Life in a war zone is busy, so we didn’t worry when we didn’t hear from him for several weeks during that semester.” 

After being wounded, Solheim was shipped back to the States and admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

“His wife emailed to say he was in Walter Reed with serious injuries, but intending to complete the current courses and the program,” Parkins says. “It was a shock when the results of combat became real—not just TV news footage.”

Mark Casey, director of the Fort Knox Center, was Solheim’s adviser when he earned his bachelor’s degree. He says Solheim was always humble, straightforward and matter-of-fact—even in the face of a major injury. 

“He will not toot his horn at all and, even during his recovery, he never had a derogatory thing to say about anyone or anything,” Casey says. “I remember when I first spoke with him he told me he had been injured in Iraq, but did not go into detail about the extent of his injuries. He was mostly focused on finishing his degree program. 

“I was quite surprised later when I was told he had taken four bullets and lost a limb. All I can remember is that he was the same calm and focused individual that I had worked with earlier.”

Because online courses can be flexible, Parkins extended some of Solheim’s deadlines and monitored his progress as he recuperated. The major met all Parkins’ expectations with high marks and the kind of attitude Parkins always admired in her soldier students during her 30 years on the faculty.

“Commitment is a characteristic of military people,” she says. “They are practical, set goals and complete them. That’s how I perceived his attitude and how I supported him. He didn’t want to do less, just needed time, flexibility. But, I’m sure he didn’t think it was easy.”

As a parent and a teacher, Parkins always has been interested in how young people—particularly males—become responsible adults. 

“Choosing to commit to something difficult, such as military service, requires and enhances maturity,” she says. “Soldier students are often a little older and start with the end in mind. … I enjoyed having a small part in supporting these talented people who do so much for us.”

Solheim was the first soldier the Fort Knox Center worked with who was injured in battle, Casey says.  

“We have worked with many veterans with service-related disabilities, but no injuries. Our office has always been very flexible and works with our military students in any way possible to keep them focused and on track to complete their degrees.  

“We do a lot of hand holding but that is the nature of the beast here. With deployments, temporary duty assignments and unusual work schedules, we need to support our population in a much different way.”

Casey says Blackboard and online learning opportunities have helped immensely with the center’s unique situation.  

“In the past we paid for a professor to travel to San Antonio, Texas, to complete a practicum project with a student who was stationed at Fort Sam Houston,” he says. “Now both the student and professor can communicate regularly via the Internet from anywhere in the world.”

12 Hours of Santos

As Solheim was finishing his studies—he earned his master’s in 2008—he also was trying to save his right leg. His artery had been repaired. His muscles had healed. But it was the nerve damage that could not be fixed. After 20 months, he made the decision to amputate the leg below the knee. 

“We knew shortly after the injury that it was a serious wound and salvaging the leg was definitely a long shot,” says Solheim, who currently is stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina where he lives with his wife, Trina, his teenage son, Brook, and his daughter, Summer.

After the amputation on March 2 of last year, he decided to do whatever he could to be physically active again. 

“I have always been a very active person,” Solheim says. “After I got hurt, there was almost two years when I couldn’t do much. I knew that getting out there and running, biking, whatever, was going to be the best way to help me feel like myself again.”

Solheim says it didn’t take long for him to get used to his prosthetic leg. 

“Everything you do goes through a process of relearning,” he says. “On the first day, I ran one-eighth of a mile. The second day, I ran a little farther. By the end of the week, I was running four miles.”

Before long Solheim competed in a 10K with his son. (“He beat me,” Solheim grins.) And then he completed two marathons in the hand-cranked wheelchair division. This past February, he decided to take on his first mountain biking race in 15 years. 

But he didn’t want to do any ordinary race. 

Along with fellow Green Beret Maj. Will Cotty, who Solheim met at Walter Reed while Cotty underwent a partial knee replacement after a tour in Iraq, Solheim completed 12 Hours of Santos, a grueling, ultra endurance mountain bike challenge that winds through forest, swamp and a large quarry near Ocala, Fla.

“It was a smoker,” Solheim said after the event in which he rode more than 100 miles over treacherous ground. “I just played it hour by hour.”

The biggest challenge for Solheim was staying on the bike. Several of these events require competitors to carry their bikes over rocky, overgrown portions of the course. 

“It’s harder for me to walk and carry the bike on difficult terrain,” Solheim says. “I really wanted to stay on the bike as much as I could.”

Cotty, who says his friendship with Solheim has taught him to never be limited by his own injury, came up with the idea to train together and take on the endurance challenge. It also was his idea to “race for a purpose.” In completing 12 Hours of Santos, the two Green Berets raised more than $14,000—well above their $10,000 goal—for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. 

“This is a unique organization that provides immediate funds to families of seriously wounded Special Operations Soldiers and also provides scholarships to children of fallen Special Op troops,” Solheim says. The same foundation provided funds to assist in his family’s travel to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007. 

Mark Casey, the director of UofL’s Fort Knox Center, says Solheim epitomizes the military hero—and a great alumnus.

“I see Major Solheim as a hero, positive role model and inspiration not only to military individuals but anyone who faces obstacles in life,” Casey says. “He has proven that despite disabilities or road blocks, you can reach your professional, academic and personal goals.”