FORT BENNING, Ga. - The 104th Transportation Company is on the move again, this time to Afghanistan.
About 150 Soldiers left June 13 and will spend the next year conducting convoy operations and security on resupply missions for coalition forces in Operation Enduring Freedom. The unit came back from a 15-month Iraq deployment a year-and-a-half ago.
Dozens of family members, friends and colleagues turned out Sunday evening on Main Post to say goodbye as the Soldiers departed on buses for Lawson Army Airfield. The scene looked all too familiar, many said.
SGT Paul Travis deployed for a fourth time. He's been to Iraq twice and Jordan once.
Does it ever get any easier'
"Not at all," he said. "You just take it in small steps, and do what you gotta do."
His wife, Emily, said she'd rely on her pillars of support to get through another separation.
"Friends, family, faith," she said. "One day at a time."
SPC Zayvier Moodie was gearing up for his second deployment, first to Afghanistan. About a week prior, he bid farewell to his wife and their two sons, ages 4 and 3.
"It's harder because my kids are a little bit older, but not old enough to understand," Moodie said. "As far as me mentally, I'm fine, I'm ready to go ... The only difference is I'm not as afraid as I was before. I know what to expect this time.
"Afghanistan is a little more dangerous than Iraq at the moment, but it's all part of the job."
CPT Max Donaldson, the 104th Transportation Company commander, said the Soldiers understand the potential dangers of this mission.
"With convoy security, the biggest issue is keeping everyone safe," he said. "We've done a lot of training with IEDs. We're making sure everyone is aware of the threat and we can all come home together."
SGT Sergio Castillo, making a third career deployment, including one to Iraq as a Marine, was joined at the farewell by his wife, Selina, and their four children - Sandra, 13, Sergio Jr., 12, Samuel, 11, and 10-year-old Saul. The Soldier admitted to a "little lump" in his throat at the prospect of another trip into harm's way.
"I'm getting older, I've been in for 14 years and the kids are older - they start thinking and talking to me a little more now," Castillo said. "(Leaving) does get harder. I want to see my daughter's sweet 16. The boys are getting older and I want to see them grow up ... but this is what I signed up to do.
"I just want to hurry up so we can come home. The faster you get down there, the faster you get back."
With bus engines humming nearby and the sun giving way to nightfall, Chaplain (LTC) Jim Wiggins, the Fort Benning chaplain, gathered the Soldiers and families around in a big circle.
"Every day means something on a deployment, and you'll touch people's lives you don't even know," he told the Soldiers.
A few minutes later, the buses pulled away.
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