At ease for now

Troops brace for possible deployment

Lt. Andy Thaggard has a barbecue in the works for today, and if the weather cooperates, a fireworks display with wife Jenny and their children.

But next year, the father of two isn’t sure where he’ll be spending Independence Day.

“There will be a Fourth of July celebration – be it in Clinton, Miss., or somewhere in Iraq,” he said.

He is a company commander with the U.S. Army National Guard’s 155th brigade, composed of 3,500 Mississippi men and women, who could be deployed to Iraq next summer.

Thaggard returned recently from annual training at Camp Shelby. This year, training was extended from two to three weeks after the guard was alerted for a possible mobilization.

Many of the soldiers have been deployed before. Thaggard, who has served for 17 years, was stationed in Kuwait from 2003-04. He was also deployed during the Gulf War and did a six-month tour in the United States.

But getting ready to deploy is more than practicing how to throw a grenade or moving around under fire, Thaggard said. Part of annual training focuses on readying the soldiers and their families. Updating wills and building a support network for the family are among the tasks.

“You have to have the difficult conversations ahead of time,” Thaggard said. “The last thing we (want to happen is to be in combat) and be distracted.”

It’s also preparing for missing anniversaries, birthdays and time spent with loved ones. Twice before, Thaggard was mobilized and missed Christmas with his family.

“I’m giving up a year of my family life,” he said. “I’m not the only one. All of us have to do it.”

In 2005, he did officer training for four months after being commissioned as a lieutenant in 2004. Shortly after getting back, he spent two months on the Gulf Coast, assisting Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

Thaggard said there was never a question whether he would put on that uniform. His parents met and married in the Marine Corps.

“It was the only thing that made sense,” he said.

It’s his duty, he says, despite the challenges of leaving his family.

“At this point, let’s get it on and over with so we can get back home,” Thaggard said.

Thaggard said he has great neighbors he’s confident will watch his family while he’s away. While he was at Camp Shelby, they maintained his yard and even baby-sat.

“We’ve had neighbors mow the grass and neighbors come stay with the kids when I go to the grocery store,” Jenny Thaggard said.

Jenny Thaggard said when Andy was deployed the first time, she moved in with her sister-in-law because both Andy and Andy’s older brother were overseas.

Her son was 3 months old, and her sister-in-law had two boys ages 4 and 6.

“It was a pretty strange house – two women, three boys, four dogs,” she said.

But when Andy Thaggard returned, it took a year for him to regain the trust of his son, Joseph, now 4.

The Thaggard family also has a daughter, Elizabeth, who just turned 3 this week.

“I sure as hell don’t want to leave them, but that’s what the mission calls for,” Andy Thaggard said.

Between his calls to duty and training, Jenny Thaggard can measure how often her husband has been away from his family.

“When he goes this time, he will have been gone for more of Joseph’s life than he’s been here,” she said.

She said the children even missed their father during his three-week training.

“When he was gone, they asked where’s daddy every five minutes for the first week,” she said. “They will miss their daddy sorely.”

When Andy Thaggard went to annual training last month, he hung a calendar in Joseph’s bedroom with a countdown of when he would return. He said he would have to hang another calendar if he goes again – a bigger one.

When annual training starts in March, Thaggard said he’ll begin the process of letting his son know he won’t be returning for a year. He will also get him a world map, so Joseph can see where he’ll be.

Like Thaggard, Spc. Antoine Williams was deployed in 2003 and is waiting to see if another notice comes. But for now, he’s just spending time with those close to him and plans to relax today.

“I’m going to do some cooking and pop fireworks with my kids,” the Byram soldier said.

Antoine Williams and his wife, Charlene, are not sure how the family will take the possible upcoming deployment. The couple, who met while both were serving in the military, have two children, ages 3 and 1.

“(The family) takes it pretty hard when they hear I may have to go,” said Williams, who has served for six years.

Williams said he may have to wait to explain it to his two children.

“When they get older, I’ll explain I was over there and what I did for the country,” he said.

He said he will miss his family most, but he also will miss getting to tinker with cars, especially his 1982 Chevy Silverado. He is replacing its suspension and brake shoes. Williams will also have to postpone pursuing an associates degree in information technology.

The deployment process is different this year. Thaggard said the Guard has revamped its premobilization process.

Rather than going for a six-month training period, it is broken up over the year. Last month’s Camp Shelby training was building a foundation for the basics, he said. The brigade was alerted to begin training so less training has to be done if there is a deployment notice.

Guard members will also train on weekends throughout the year.

The key to training is building teamwork, he said.

“You need to get to know your fellow soldiers so you know who’s got your back,” he said.

While waiting for deployment, Thaggard and Williams plan to keep up their typical routines. Thaggard works in the Guard’s public affairs office and serves as the brigade’s historian. Williams serves in the Guard’s Honor Guard, which performs Guard funeral ceremonies.

Williams said if he goes, he knows he’ll come back and still do the same tasks – still work in the Honor Guard, tune up his old truck and return to those online classes.

Thaggard said he doesn’t know whether the brigade will be sent for combat.

He said his company’s morale is up, and now it’s just seeing if the deployment notice arrives.

“We’re prepared to go any time, any place,” he said. “That’s why we put on the uniform. You have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”