REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Changes are coming fast for the Aviation and Missile Command's Sgt. 1st Class Crystal Basham.
Basham, an ammunition specialist, came to AMCOM G-3 (Operations) just over a year ago on a compassionate assignment to care for her mother, who died last fall from ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Although the AMCOM assignment didn't fit her military occupational specialty, it has helped Basham develop additional job skills while also getting the opportunity for herself and her 15-year-old son, Ahmahd, to spend time with her mother during her last few months.
Now, about a year after her mother's death, it's time for Basham to move on in her Army career. She received her new assignment -- with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas -- about four months ago, and started getting herself and her son ready for the move.
But a phone call to Fort Hood put a change in those plans.
"I called to check in and get a heads-up on what I was going to be doing there so that I could properly prepare. The type of ammo we work with as ammunition specialists depends on the type of unit you are assigned to. If you are assigned to an aviation unit, you are working with aircraft missiles. If you are assigned to an infantry unit, then you are dealing with ammo for Soldier weapons depending on the unit's mission.
"So, when I asked them what I would be doing, they said 'Don't worry about what you will be doing here. We're getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan.'"
Basham's 18 years of military service -- along with her experiences growing up as a military kid -- have made her resilient, flexible and agile. Although she was surprised by the news, it wasn't long before Basham adjusted to her new marching orders.
But, part of that adjustment was telling her son that his plans were changing, too.
"I had already told him he had to leave his friends, and teachers and coaches at East Limestone High School. Now, I had to tell him I was also deploying," Basham said. "But when I told him about the deployment, he reacted with a lot of positive energy and a positive attitude. He told me he'd rather I deployed during his sophomore year of high school than during his junior or senior year. He wants to make sure I'm around for those last two years of high school."
The deployment caused a major shift in arrangements for Ahmahd. They had lived at Fort Hood during a previous assignment, and Basham's plan was to return to the home she owns there so Ahmahd could complete his high school education -- both academically, and as a member of the football, basketball and soccer teams -- in Texas. With the new school year fast approaching, Basham and her son had to act fast to ensure he would be able to play football wherever he ended up living and going to high school during the nine-month deployment.
"All my family -- my aunts and uncles and cousins -- are in Beaufort, S.C., and I have a cousin whom Ahmahd could live with. So, the plan changed to South Carolina," Basham said.
The plan now is for Ahmahd to spend his sophomore year attending his mom's hometown high school in Beaufort, and then moving to Fort Hood after his mom's deployment to complete his junior and senior years in Texas.
"He is going to high school at the school where I was a student. Some of my teachers are still there and a lot of my classmates have kids his age whom he'll be going to school with. One of my classmates who is now a coach there has taken him under his wing. Beaufort is like East Limestone.
It's a small, good community. So, he's going to be in a great place while I'm gone," Basham said.
With school starting in mid-August and football practice starting even earlier, Basham and her son became geographically separated soon after learning about the deployment. During the short summer break, Ahmahd visited Beaufort and practiced with the football team. He returned about a week before school started while Basham continued to work at AMCOM.
"The practice with the football team went very well and they were really happy to get him back," Basham said. "They are starting him on varsity as a defensive end. I will be able to be at his first few games. I am taking 30 days of leave in September so that I can help get him in a good routine with school and his practices before I deploy."
Basham admits she was hoping Ahmahd could enjoy his high school career at one or maybe two high schools. Three different schools in four years is a lot for a teenager to handle, but she is confident Ahmahd has the flexibility and resilience to be successful.
"The coaches at East Limestone (where Ahmahd was a high school freshman) loved him to pieces, and we were happy for him to be a student and an athlete at that school for all four years. It was hard leaving his friends and teachers and the coaching staff there," Basham said.
"But, he's a military child and he understands all of this. This move is good, too, because his new coaches have a lot of experience, and connections at the University of South Carolina and Clemson. That could help Ahmahd later."
While she is deployed, Basham will stay in contact with Ahmahd and other family members through Facetime, emails and phone calls. She and Ahmahd have already made plans to read the same daily devotionals from Our Daily Bread so that they can discuss them via phone calls. Basham also plans to stay in contact with her son's teachers.
"I made him a promise that if he does well in school that I'll get him a car when I get back. He turns 16 on Halloween, so he'll be driving when I get back," Basham said. "If he has good grades and no issues then I told him we'd go on a trip together, maybe to Spain."
This isn't the first time Basham and Ahmahd have managed separations. As a single parent, Basham had to rely on godmothers to care for her three-year-old son when she deployed for 15 months to Iraq and then her 12-year-old son for nine months when she deployed to Afghanistan and Kuwait.
It's important to their relationship that Ahmahd feels comfortable talking to his mother about anything during those deployment phone calls. For that reason, Basham knows that she can't practice strict parenting over the phone. Instead, she trusts that Ahmahd has been raised with qualities that will stick with him even when his mom is not around.
"He's such a good kid. Teachers and coaches and his classmates have always loved him. He gets along with everyone and he's interested in all kinds of different things. So, I know this will work out for him just fine," Basham said.
"I've always told Ahmahd that wherever you go, leave something good behind, leave it a better place than when you got there."
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