Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Pvt. Cruz Retana, a Patriot launching station enhanced operator/maintainer with...... read more read more
FORT HOOD, Texas – In preparation for 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment’s upcoming deployment to southwest Asia, Soldiers and family members of the unit attended a deployment fair Sept. 9, at the Phantom Warrior Center.
Pvt. Cruz Retana, a Patriot launching station enhanced operator/maintainer with Battery C, 1st Bn., 62nd ADA Regt., which is assigned to 69th ADA Brigade, and his wife, Daysi attended the deployment fair with their 1-year-old daughter, Faith.
For Cruz, the fair made him feel more secure about leaving his family on his first deployment, he said.
“I know that they’ll be taken care of while I’m doing my mission,” said Cruz. “I’ll be happy knowing that they’re safe and … they’ll have support.”
Daysi, whose family lives nearly three hours away, said she was glad that unit was preparing the families as well as the Soldiers for deployment.
“I think it’s pretty awesome that they have all these resources for me whenever he’s gone,” she said. “That way I won’t feel like I’m alone on this; I’ll feel like I have support.”
Sgt. 1st Class John Forbis, the operations noncommissioned officer in charge for the battalion, helped set up the event and said the agencies were carefully selected to meet the needs of the family members and Soldiers.
The agencies included Army Community Service (ACS), Family Advocacy, U.S. Army Child, Youth and School Services (CYSS), American Red Cross and Fort Hood National Bank, among others.
“We set it up with all the agencies to give Soldiers a chance to go back through to get more information for both themselves and their spouses,” he explained.
The unit chose to have the agencies set up booths with informational pamphlets and flyers over sitting Soldiers down and briefing them.
“It’s a lot less formal,” Forbis said. “I think it’s more beneficial because in this setting they can roam around and ask questions as needed.”
Forbis said he is familiar with all the agencies because of how many times he has deployed, but having the information fresh in his mind will help if one of his Soldiers has an issue while they are deployed.
Should anything happen during the deployment, Retana said he feels that his family, or any other family in the battalion, will not feel alone.
“(Family members) have so many options of people to talk to that make the family feel more comfortable,” he explained. “That takes stress off the soldiers who are deploying because they know that their family members will be taken care of while they are gone.”
| Date Taken: | 09.09.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2015 09:59 |
| Story ID: | 180032 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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