Know Before You Deploy

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Know Before You Deploy
June 23, 2010
Air Force Print News|by Randy Roughton

The first time Tech. Sgt. Christina Gamez's husband deployed, she wanted to do everything herself, frustrating friends who wanted to help her. This time, she knows she will need her support network. She too is scheduled to deploy soon after her husband leaves this fall.

Master Sgt. Rodolfo Gamez of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency at Lackland Air Force Base plans to leave next month for combat skills training at Fort Polk, La., before a 365-day deployment to Afghanistan. Christina, a financial analyst here, is scheduled to follow her husband for her own 365-day voluntary deployment in December.

The Air Force couple plans to blog about their experiences during their dual deployments to help prepare other Airmen so that they can "know before they go" on their own deployments.

Christina said she expects to encourage future deployers to "be prepared and even over-prepared; to look at every possible angle and to have a backup plan for everything that could possibly come up.

"I don't think I was prepared at all that first time," she said. "I didn't know how hard it was going to be. But, you can adapt. It's going to be tough and you never know what to expect. You just get through it because everything becomes routine and there are so many resources out there for you if you're just willing to accept them."