Army Sgt. Josh Atchley, a South Albany High School graduate whose left arm was shattered by an explosive device in Iraq that also cost him an eye, returns to duty today.

Atchley, 24, is heading to Fort Carson, Colo., where he will train before probably deploying to Afghanistan sometime in March or April.

There he will become a member of the 4th Infantry Division.

“I’m ready to go,” he said during a telephone interview Wednesday from Texas. “I’ve been on medical leave too long.”

On June 8, 2007, Atchley was in a vehicle that was ambushed. He was struck with fragments from an improvised explosive device, and five other soldiers were also injured in the attack. The group was in Baghdad returning to base after a raid on an ammunition cache.

Most recently, Atchley has been living in a unit for wounded soldiers in San Antonio, Texas.

“I’m basically 100 percent back to where I was,” he said. “I’m a little out of shape because I couldn’t do any physical activity. I’m just like any other person, but I have a limited field of view.”

He said a friend of his who lost half a foot also is returning to active duty.

Atchley is making the Army his career, having re-enlisted on Oct. 2 for five more years.

“They tried to retire me because of my eye, but I appealed to the medical evaluation board,” he said. “I proved to the board I can still do my job as an infantryman.”

His dominant firing eye is in good shape and nothing affects his ability to drive.

“There’s nothing to say I can’t do patrol, but tactically it would be a poor decision,” Atchley said.

Because of his wounds he expects to do something such as monitor military radio traffic if sent to Afghanistan.

“I’d love to go back on patrol. That’s my job,” he said. “I don’t like staying back while sending my troops out there. Part of being a leader is leading from the front.”

It was drive and sheer determination, Atchley says, that got him to his goal of returning to duty.

“If you have a goal, you don’t let anything get in your way,” he said. “I want to stay in the Army so I set my goals to ride a motorcycle and return to duty, and now I’m doing both.”

He believes that having a positive attitude is 90 percent of the healing process.

Atchley is the son of Capt. Ben Atchley of the Albany Police Department and Connie Atchley, who lives in Corvallis.