KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (Mar. 11, 2011) -- More than 80 Soldiers with 5th Signal Command's A Company, 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, were given a noble farewell as they started their journey to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The scene was something out of the ordinary. The street was lined with their fellow servicemembers presenting arms, from the theater all the way to the exit gate of Ledward Barracks in Schweinfurt, Germany.
After a three-hour emotional journey, they traveled through another gate early in the morning, arriving at the Kaiserslautern Deployment Processing Center, this time in darkness. The Soldiers were then placed into a holding status, not an uncommon thing and known to many servicemembers with deployment experience.
"The expression of 'hold status' in the eyes of those who have deployed on multiple occasions is as though you have been put in a place where your emotions push forth with a force of overwhelming feelings which we can never seem to find balance," said Sgt. Winslow O. Harrington, A Company motorpool NCOIC, who is on his fourth deployment. Harrington's previous deployment was 18 months.
The holding status at times can seem to be the worst of a deployment. The Soldier is technically gone they donAca,!a,,ct have their Family, and they don't have the momentum of the deployment and its duties. Soldiers sit and think of their loved ones, friends and Family, and how much they miss them and wish they were home. This, for some Soldiers, can be the hardest part of a deployment.
"As we spend our free time thinking of our loved ones, we also try to focus our minds on the task ahead of us, anticipating success as we strive to provide communications capabilities to Regional Command-North. Our desire to be the best at what we do is our biggest motivation," said Capt. Odene C. Brathwaite, Alpha Company commander.
What job could you expect to wake up next to a loved one and in the same day leave them for a year-long separation into a hostile environment' It takes a certain type of man or woman to be able to perform such a task. A Company proved that they were made up of these servicemembers and deployed proudly in support of their country.
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