By Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Witzke
105th MPAD
Braving the snow that hit Kansas on Wednesday, 30 December, 2009, citizens of Augusta drove to Salina, KS, to witness the deployment departure ceremony for members of the 226th Engineer Company that is soon departing for a year-long tour in Afghanistan.
The event was held at the Kansas Wesleyan University, in Pioneer Hall and guest speakers included Kansas Lt. Governor, Troy Findley and the Kansas Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Tod M. Bunting.
The unit is commanded by Capt. Brian Henning, a veteran of Iraq. He states the unit’s mission is to build vertical construction, creating the building facilities that will be used by Soldiers and Airmen during the tour. “Several of my Soldiers are veterans of Iraq, but none have been in Afghanistan before,” he said.
Henning says the biggest issue for the unit is to get integrated with their higher headquarters. “We just want to get set up to do our missions. I think we are replacing a unit that has done great work, and we are looking forward to keeping that high quality in our unit,” he said
Even though attention was on all the Soldiers deploying, special recognition was given to the family members that are staying on the home front. Pride and Patriotism were common factors of all family members that attended the Deployment Departure Ceremony. Gary and Myrna Rogers of Augusta, attended the ceremony because their son, Spc. William (Bill) Rogers is one of the unit members deploying. Gary and Myrna stood next to each other, holding hands—Gary with his VFW hat in hand, to show respect for the Soldiers that are headed to harm’s way.
Gary is the Commander of the American Legion Post 189 in Augusta, and Myrna is the President of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Leonard Whitehill Post 189 of Augusta. “We are very proud of Bill,” said Myrna. “We are a true military family and understand the pain and suffering families go through when their loved one is missing for so long.”
Gary, a Vietnam Navy veteran, spoke of his son, eyes beaming with the pride of a father for him. “As a veteran that has been deployed in the past, it gives me a different perspective on this deployment. We are very proud of Bill. I told him to keep in mind that we haven’t served together in the same time periods, wars or service, but we have the same mission—to keep Americans safe and secure. No matter what, we stand behind him and we’ll serve together this time, he in Afghanistan and his mother and I will be on the home front, helping out the unit as we can.”
William is married to Susan Rogers of Augusta. They have a daughter, Kaylee (5). They are a newlywed couple, now on their third month of matrimony. “I’m going to miss Bill like crazy,” said Susan. “But we are going to put this year of his absence to good use.”
Susan quit her job so she could spend time with her husband before the deployment, and now will go back to school during his absence and pursue her education in criminal justice. Even though this is the first time her husband has deployed, she is sort of used to the military family member life. Her father, Sgt. 1st Class Claude Ray Palmer of Hays, a long-time Kansas National Guard member and Iraq veteran, taught her that duty matters and that if you volunteer for something, then you must do it and to the best of your abilities.
That is why she supports her husband, but does admit that she will be glad when this deployment that is happening now, will end in a year. Then the family can get on with their family life.
Leta Solis DeMayo of Augusta, was also at the ceremony for her son, Pvt. Carl Sollis. This is his first deployment. “I sort of have a kind of mixed bag of emotions,” says Leta. “I’m proud, very fearful, and wondering what 2010 holds for all of us. We’re all just praying that they all the Soldiers come back safe.
Leta is a Family Readiness Group (FRG) member and on the phone board. She acknowledges the importance of the FRG. “It’s good to talk to those ladies of the FRG that have had spouses deploy before. They can answer a lot of questions that may come up to us first-time-deployer spouses—a lot of us wouldn’t know what to do otherwise.
The FRG and their use of the telephone systems to keep family members informed is an important tool. One that Anita Pack of Wichita is very familiar with. Anita is the leader of the FRG group for the whole unit deploying. She admits that she’s not had much time to worry, being a member of the FRG requires a lot of time, and hurdles to overcome. Her hurdles have been to streamline communications between all the family members. The unit, has a great number of Soldiers deploying for the first time, so there are many questions and concerns.
Anita, is married to Staff Sgt. Craig Pack. He’s the training NCO but he will be supply sergeant on this deployment. They’ve been married 10 years and have a son, Cooper (6).
“There are so many members from all over,” she says. “We have members deploying from Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Texas, Michigan, and just all over. We want to keep them informed and alleviate any fears or concerns that may arise on this deployment. Our roster of members has constantly changed, but I think we’ve got any real issues beat.
This is Craig’s third deployment. He went to Germany in 2001 to replace a regular army unit to Afghanistan. The next deployment lasted for 15 months in Iraq.
“Kansas National Guard members have always done a stupendous job,” said Lt. Governor Findley. “I know that this is hard on the families, but we Kansans always keep a level and common sense way about things on these deployments, and that spreads good will to the people over there.”
“I assure you that a huge sense of accomplishment will come to everyone here when the deployment is over,” said Maj. Gen. Bunting. “I know you all have pride in your loved ones, but have pride in yourselves too, after all, without the support of the families, then the unit could not accomplish their missions, and these missions are so important.”
Augusta City Councilman, Mike Wallace (Ward 2), represented the City government at the ceremony. “I see a lot of familiar faces in the crowd today,” said Wallace. “Many of those faces from Augusta and the surrounding communities, and when our smaller communities lose good, solid citizens—even for a year—it can cause noticeable bad effects in our towns. That is why it is so important that our towns and cities help those family members that are left home, and so important that we support these Soldiers abroad. I look forward to the day these Soldiers return, and Augusta can give them and their families the hero’s welcome they deserve.”
Photos of the event can be viewed at www.kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral on the Kansas Adjutant General’s website.
Augusta, Kan. —
