After nearly 28 years of service in the U.S. Army Reserve, I am deploying…and I am excited about what lies ahead.  The 314^th PAOC is a great unit with a reputation of getting the job done, and even though I am a late addition to the lineup of Soldiers, I know I will be able to help keep that tradition going.  

In mid-October, when I found out I would be heading to Iraq for a year, I admit I was not sure of what lay ahead.  It’s been a long time since I served in a Public Affairs unit.  I went from Washington, DC, to a leadership training position to the Sergeants Major Academy, and then the Army Reserve Command.  I feel all the work I did in those positions was important, and that I was the right person at the right place and time for those challenges, but what about this current challenge?  For most of the past 10 years, I have been chained to a desk and far away from the core skills of every Soldier, no matter what their job designation:  staying alive in battle.  

After three days to prepare, I was off to Fort Dix, NJ, for three weeks of intense, non-stop soldiering at the Readiness Training Center.  The Army Reserve drill sergeants who taught the courses there reminded me quickly of what I had not seen in a decade.  I fired weapons, engaged in hand-to-hand struggle with others, learned how to use new and not-so-new military tactics, and refreshed myself on the topics I learned at basic training.  My mind and my muscled were stretch, but thanks for a good attitude and an ample supply of Advil, I was able to meet the challenge.  However, the thing that encouraged me the most was the group of 314^th Soldiers assembled there with me.

The Army Reserve of today is not the same as when I joined in 1981.  Sure, these young Soldiers want and need the money for school, great health benefits and other benefits it provides, but there is a major difference.  They knew when they raised their hand and took the oath of enlistment that a deployment to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere was not an “if” like it was decades ago, it was now a “when”.  Despite the fact that they were leaving behind their family, friends, civilian employment, and the security of living in the United States, each of the Soldiers with me at Fort Dix was fully committed to this mission with the 314^th…..and that is what truly has me excited.  After nearly 28 years, I will be able to put my years of experience to work – not just for the American public, but also for these Soldiers who daily inspire me with their drive, their intelligence, their creativity, and their commitment to each other.