Highs, Lows... And The Chance To Make A Difference
[Our Previous Story On The Deployment]
Story & Photos by SPC Charles Ames; Additional Photos Provided by SPC Bill Putnam & MSG Cal Vandervest - Posted May, 2001
The
248th Rear Area Operations Center recently returned from its
6-month deployment to Macedonia (please see our previous
story of the deployment and mission of the 248th).
Some might think that a unit of Guardsmen returning from a
mission in the Balkans would simply get off the plane and return
home to their civilian lives. Well, it's not quite that
simple.
The men and women of the 248th Rear Area
Operations Center (RAOC) did get to see their families as
soon as they landed, and they were released to return home, but
they spent several more days on active duty, following their
return, to handle - you guessed it - the paperwork! And as
they say, no job is over until the paperwork is done.
As the Guardsmen awaited the next in a long series of briefings and debriefings,
they had some time to reflect on their experience.
MSG Karen Groce is a Counter-Intelligence
Sergeant from Lakewood WA. Soon she will return to her job as an Administrative Secretary at Western State Hospital, Steilacoom.
She says of her trip to the Balkans, "I was excited by our mission and the deployment... kind of looked forward to it. We dont get too many opportunities like this to really test our skills. I
saw it as a challenge to assess my skills." She
commented that her kitties, Chefai and Chlo, were glad to see her return.
CW4 Louise Holser is a Counter-Intelligence
Officer from Port Hueneme CA. She is a foreign military sales specialist. "We had a good group of people. Everybody worked together really well, even though were all from various places."
For instance, the need was found for her specific skills and the call was routed to California.
"My unit called me up, but LTC English (Mobilization
Officer for the Washington Army National Guard) came and talked to
me. He convinced me
that I was really needed."
Like all deployments, the arrangements can be a strain for a young family.
"My family was split up because my husband works most of the time on the East
Coast", said Chief Holser. "My daughter was farmed out to my mom, then my mom had to go to surgery, so we had to
send my daughter out to friends of the family. She turned 8 while I was gone. My son was by himself. He turned
17!"
SPC Shannon Holmes,
a resident of Bremerton WA, is a Radio Telephone Operator for the unit. He
had just signed up to the 248th
RAOC when the call to active duty was received. In fact,
SPC Holmes had been home from his initial
training for only a few months.
Now it was time to put that training to the test. "The
deployment wasnt something I was looking forward to
doing. I was leaving my wife and my newborn son. He was
only a month and a half old when I left. My wife was pretty stressed out while I was gone, taking care of a new
kid. She was going to school full time, and about two months before I came back, she got a part-time job."
The RAOCs tour at Camp Able
Sentry moved at a hectic pace, and SPC Homles certainly had his
work cut out for him. "The first 2 months we were there, we worked 12-hour shifts... 7 days a week. The first 4 months we were there, I had 3 days off.
But with all of that, it was an experience I could not have had
anywhere else."
Holmes was promoted during the deployment to Macedonia.
CPT Dennis Ives happily filled in as the Camp Able Sentry Support Operations Officer.
Here at home, he's the shop manager for an auto rebuilder in Lynnwood
WA, and lives in Everett.
He echoes the difficulties that can arise with a long-term long distance deployment.
"My son had some problems with school. The good thing is that we had
long-distance phones provided by the military, and e-mail.
We really had almost instantaneous communication with our family back home.
Im an Infantry officer, but I served the unit in a quartermaster
position... my learning curve was almost vertical! The nice thing is that a lot of
my civilian experience easily translated into what I was doing."
"I had some apprehensions about the interaction between the Army National
Guard and our active duty counterparts. The way it turned out, there was no difference. There was no dividing line at all. We all did our
jobs, and demonstrated that we really are a single force. At first I didnt think we were going to be making a difference...
but our presence there did make a significant difference in peoples lives."
"Part of my mission was to assist the Macedonian army in
making the transition from a Soviet-based military force to a NATO-based model.
Their whole logistics system had to be restructured. Our shop had an impact in that. We went
right in there... taught them our maintenance practices, supply
techniques and logistics operations. We really made a
difference. It was really something that has made a lasting
impression on me."
Before they could settle
back into their "normal" lives, the 248th would endure the accolades of the grateful.
There were awards ceremonies and recognition ceremonies, attended by
families and Generals.
Finally
the unit was invited to be present for a Senate Resolution (SR 8620) which heralded their accomplishments.
But in the grand scheme of things, in a time when the active
duty military has downsized, in a time when our peacekeeping
role has (at least temporarily) usurped our war-making role, the
Citizen Soldiers of the Washington National Guard stand
alongside Guardsmen from across the country after another
successful deployment, always ready for the next.
