"He's just always been one of those guys who enjoys helping people," said Judy.

By building schools and finding clean drinking water, Major Ingalsbe took pride in working with his new community. That is what he was doing last Sunday night.

"While they were on foot patrol, they engaged in enemy fire. There was a firefight," said Judy. "Andy was the only soldier who was injured."

He was shot in the stomach. Judy remembers only parts of the phone call that she received hours later.

"I heard the word 'injured.' I heard 'critical but stable,' and they were flying him to treatment at that time," she said.

Andy's first surgery was in Afghanistan but he's now in a hospital in Germany for more tests and another surgery. While Judy waits for her chance to talk and see her husband, she feels very fortunate to have it.

"I feel like the Ingalsbe family is a lucky family. We got a good call, Andy is still with us, and he's getting the best care he has available to him," she said.

Andy's second surgery is scheduled for Thursday. German doctors will then tell Judy and her daughters if they'll be flying to Germany or, if Andy is well enough to fly, they'll meet him at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
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From the West Plains Daily Quill, 9-22-09; by staff reporter Crystal Daniels:

“We’ve had a setback,” Judy Ingalsbe said of her husband on Tuesday morning.

Army Reserve Major Andy Ingalsbe of West Plains is in critical but stable condition after being shot at midnight Sunday in Afghanistan.

“He was not able to get on a plane from Bagram to Germany. He has been intubated,” Judy said.

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Judy received a call that Andy was on a plane en route to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany where he would remain until stable enough to be flown to the United States. He instead, was taken to Forward Operations Base (FOB) Bagram where a tube was put down his throat.

“The first 24 hours are the most critical,” Judy said.

She learned Monday that Andy was shot Sunday while on a day mission outside of FOB Kushamond, where he was stationed. His title is CAT-A Team Leader attached to Task Force Yukon at Paktika Province in Afghanistan.

Andy was shot in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen. He was flown to FOB Sharana where he underwent surgery.

Judy said she will fly to Germany if the doctors think she needs to be there but, once he is in the United States, she and their daughters, Andrea of Little Rock, Ark., and Abby of West Plains, will be flown to wherever Andy is taken.

“We are very appreciative of everyone’s calls, concerns and prayers,” Judy said. “Everybody has been so gracious. The military has been wonderful. They call and give updates frequently. The community has been so good to us.”

The family requests that people put out yellow ribbons as a show of support for Andy, all members of 1138th National Guard of West Plains and all soldiers stationed overseas and elsewhere.

“We need to remember they (the soldiers) are gone and people are losing their lives every day over there,” said Judy.

Andy is the son of Ed and Mary Lou Ingalsbe of West Plains, and his brother is Mark Ingalsbe of Springfield.
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From the West Plains Daily Quill, 9-21-09; by staff reporter Crystal Daniels:

Army Reserve Major Andy Ingalsbe of West Plains is in critical but stable condition in Afghanistan, after being shot in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, his wife, Judy of West Plains, said Monday. She said she got a call at 8:30 a.m. Monday from the Army’s Human Resource Command in Alexandria, Va., giving a casualty notification that Major Andy Ingalsbe had been shot.

Judy said she was told Andy was shot outside of the Forward Operations Base (FOB) Kushamond, where he was stationed. His title is CAT-A Team Leader attached to Task Force Yukon at Paktika Province in Afghanistan.

“He had been out on a day mission and he was shot around midnight,” Judy said.

Andy was flown to an aid station in FOB Sharana and is now out of surgery there, she said about noon Monday. Judy added he will be flown to FOB Bagram then to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany where he will remain until he is stable enough to be flown to the United States.

In October 2008, Ingalsbe was granted a military leave of absence from his posts as the West Plains School District’s South Central Career Center heating, ventilation and air-conditioning instructor and Richards School District bus driver because he was going to Afghanistan. Judy told The Quill on Feb. 23 of this year that he was a major with A Company 416th Civil Affairs Battalion out of San Diego, Calif., and his title is CAT-A Team Leader for C Company 2-206th Infantry. At that time, he was stationed at FOB Bermel in eastern Afghanistan, in the mountains along the Pakistan border.

He has been in the military for 28 years. In 2005, he was deployed to Iraq. He was 22 when he signed up with the National Guard’s local 1138th Military Police Co. and worked his way through the ranks from private.

It took him about 10 years to become the 1138th’s company commander, a post he served for two-and-a-half years. He spent a total of 19-and-a-half years in the National Guard, then went in the Army Reserve.