Last week I attended a XO/S3 Spouse seminar taught by ACS. There was lots of valuable information and would recommend it to anyone. We received a huge book with a ton of information in it. One of the ACS (Army Community Service) ladies covered deployments. Wow was this a tough one.

Terry and I have been extremely lucky in our 16 years of marriage and more than 12 years of active duty time together when it comes to deployments. Before Iraq we were only separated for a max of 6 or 7 weeks at one time. This only happened a handful of times. When he deployed to Iraq we did not see each other for 9 months before he came home for R&R and then were separated for another 5 or so after R&R.

Not to surprise anyone, but if Terry doesn't get into SAMS he will most likely get an Advisor/MiTT team. What does this mean exactly? For several other people that have already found out that they are going on Advisor job it means this. They graduate early from ILE (current school they are attending) around early November. They get 30 days leave and then many of them go to Iraq in December, to put it simply, get the lay of the land. Yes this means they might be gone for Christmas. In January they report to Ft. Riley, Kansas for 3 months of training. Most likely they go back to Iraq late March early April for a year. The training in Riley is intense, they usually only get one day off a week. What does an Advisor/Mitt team do??? In my simple little world this is my description not Terry's or the miltiary's. They work in 12 men teams directly with the Iraq army training and advising them. They live with them in other words.

So with all that said what does that mean for me and the kids. If and that is a big IF, we get a guaranteed follow on assignment, he will ask for Ft. Carson. That being said, I may buy a house and move in the summer (June 08) to Colorado. If not I will stay here in Kansas.

So what does that mean for the coming months. If we decide to buy in Colorado we will have to make a trip to Colorado Springs in November to look and make a decision on either building or buying used. It also means Terry will change his focus from school to spending time with his kids. At the seminar they talked about how important it is for the children to have very strong memories with the deployed spouse. So we can not commit to anything for the next few months if that is the case. Terry's priority will be his kids and preparing them for this deployment nothing else.

I know this is the worse case scenario and nothing is in writing, but after going to the seminar and listening to them talk, I must start preparing for it. For anyone who's spouse has not deployed it is a very heart wrenching thing to go thru. We all do it and we all survive.

Here are some pointers from the ACS folks.

Get a Guardianship POA. Basically this give someone temporary Guardianship of your children so that they can get them health care or anything else relating to legal matter if you became injured while your spouse is deployed.

Do NOT display yellow ribbons or red deployment stars. This just advertises that you are alone (ie no man in the house) and many criminals have taken advantage of people.

Do NOT give out personnel information on the phone. If someone calls saying they are with the military and need some information on your spouse ask them 5 questions. If they can not answer these questions, they are not with the military.
1. Full name of service member with middle name.
2. Rank
3. Social Security number
4. Unit stationed with
5. Country they are in.

On your Cell phone put in these important contacts. Use the initials ICE (In Case of Emergency). Police are trained to look for a cell phone and will call these numbers first.

ICE - Your spouse
ICE1 - Local person other than your spouse
ICE2 - Permanent Emergency contact (ie parents, brother or sister located anywhere)

These are just a few tips they gave. Great information.