Fifteen years after his death in Afghanistan, the Army social worker and USU educator’s example still shapes military mental health care.
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| Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) David E. Cabrera, an assistant professor of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University and a licensed clinical social worker, was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Oct. 29, 2011. (Photo credit: Tom Balfour, USU) |
October 29, 2026 by Sharon Holland
On Oct. 29, 2011, Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) David E. Cabrera was killed when a suicide bomber struck a NATO convoy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Cabrera was 41. Fifteen years later, his loss is still felt by those who knew him and by the faculty and staff of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), where he served as an assistant professor of Family Medicine.
Cabrera was a psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, educator, husband, and father. He devoted his career to helping service members and their families navigate trauma, grief, and the challenges of military life. Colleagues and patients remembered him for his ability to connect with people, earn their trust, and make time for those who needed him.
His story is not defined solely by how he died. It is defined by the way he lived and by the people whose lives he changed through his work.
A career built around service
Cabrera joined the Army Medical Service Corps in January 1996, drawn in part by the opportunity to experience different cultures and serve alongside soldiers. His assignments took him to Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Germany, and other military communities.
He earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Texas A&M University in 1992, followed by a master's degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1994. He later completed a Ph.D. in social work at The Catholic University of America in 2006 while serving on active duty.
His professional development also included specialized training in child and family practice through the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Social Work Fellowship. There, he worked with military families and children confronting difficult questions about injuries, deployment, and the possibility of losing a loved one.
Cabrera's work brought him into contact with service members and families during some of their most difficult moments. After returning from a deployment to Iraq, he served as a casualty assistance officer, helping families cope with the deaths of loved ones. One family presented him with a plaque recognizing the care he provided during their grief. He displayed it prominently in his office, reflecting the value he placed on being present for people when they needed support.
At Fort Lewis, Washington, he led mental health and combat operational stress programs serving more than 4,500 soldiers. His experience combined clinical practice, research, education, and an understanding of the demands military service places on individuals and families.
Meeting service members where they are
Cabrera believed that effective mental health care required an understanding of military life that went beyond textbooks and clinical training. He wanted clinicians like himself to experience the environments in which service members lived and worked.
That conviction helped lead him to Afghanistan in 2011. Rather than remain at a hospital or base and wait for patients to come to him, he traveled among forward operating bases, the smaller outposts closer to the fighting, to provide care to deployed personnel. He understood that trust could be difficult to establish in an operational setting, particularly for service members who were hesitant to seek mental health support.
Dr. Jeff Goodie, professor and vice chair for Research in the USU Department of Family Medicine, was a colleague and friend. He said Cabrera’s decision to deploy grew out of how much he loved being an Army social worker. “It wasn’t a job to him; it was who he was,” Goodie said. “He went to Afghanistan when he didn’t have to because he believed the best place for an Army social worker was right beside the soldiers.”
His approach was practical and personal. He listened, used humor to put people at ease, and built relationships outside formal appointments. He even partnered with a therapy dog, Lucy, whose presence helped open the door to conversations with soldiers who might otherwise have kept their distance from a mental health professional.
Cabrera's commitment was evident in the time he gave others. He often worked late to see patients whose duties and travel made appointments difficult to schedule, then returned to work the following morning.
For him, being a military mental health professional meant understanding the experiences of the people he treated and demonstrating that they could count on him.
A teacher and colleague at USU
In 2010, Cabrera joined USU as an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine. He brought to the University a combination of advanced academic training, operational experience, and firsthand knowledge of military mental health care.
Colleagues described him as energetic, approachable, direct, and quick to use humor to connect with others. He related to students and fellow faculty members as people first. His experience helped bring the realities of military service into the academic environment.
Retired Navy Capt. (Dr.) Mark Stephens, former chair of the Department of Family Medicine at USU, said Cabrera’s death hit the student body especially hard. He remembered how easily Cabrera earned people’s trust. “Dave had an easy-going way of developing trust and had a relatability in terms of his style (and lived experiences) that allowed him to create a psychologically safe space for folks to be vulnerable and real,” Stephens said.
Stephens recalled Cabrera coming to his office earlier that fall to ask permission to deploy again, though, Stephens noted, it was not his permission to give. The two had a deep conversation about faith, family, and work. Stephens said Cabrera brought people together across the department and beyond. “There is no doubt that Dave was a ‘glue guy’—someone who absolutely helped bring everyone in our department (and many other departments) together,” Stephens said. “His sense of humor, his laugh and his (sometimes) mischievous grin are things I will always remember fondly.”
Students felt that trust firsthand. Army Lt. Col. (Dr.) Elyse Pierre, a 2014 USU graduate, said Cabrera supported her through academic and personal challenges and believed in her without reservation, even when she struggled to believe in herself as a student.
Pierre said she carries those lessons with her today. “I am undoubtedly a better Officer, physician, leader, learner, educator, and human for having known him and I will forever carry and share his memory and the lessons he taught me forward,” she said.
USU honored Cabrera's memory by naming its University Family Health Center in his honor. The LTC David E. Cabrera University Family Health Center continues to connect his name with the University's mission to educate health professionals to care for those who serve.
For current students, faculty, and staff who never had the opportunity to meet him, the center offers a reminder of the person behind the name and the values reflected in his work.
A legacy carried forward
A year after his death, The Washington Post Magazine published a detailed account of Cabrera's life and the people he touched. The story described the qualities friends, family members, patients, and colleagues remembered most: his generosity, humor, adventurous spirit, and determination to help others through difficult times.
His family chose a phrase for his Arlington National Cemetery headstone that captured those qualities in a few words. Suggested by his young son, the inscription reads: “A Soldier of Kindness.”
Fifteen years later, those words remain a fitting tribute to a life dedicated to service. As USU remembers Lt. Col. David E. Cabrera, his example calls on the University community to consider what it means to care for those who go in harm's way—and to recognize the profound difference one person can make in the lives of others.