FORT STEWART, Ga. </B>- Sergeant Daniel Radcliffe, 293rd Military Police Company, 385th Military Police Battalion, and his wife Pfc. Nicole Radcliffe, also part of the 293rd MP Co., have been married for 11 months.
They have never had to endure a deployment apart, but Sgt. Daniel Radcliffe recently deployed with the 293rd MP Co. for Afghanistan for 12 months, leaving his wife with their 2-month-old daughter, Kiera.
Pfc. Radcliffe shares the fears that most couples face when a deployment comes.
"I'm just afraid because I will be home alone, not able to hear from him," she said. "There will always be that 'what if' thought in my head until I get that first phone call or first email saying, 'Hey, hun, I'm doing ok.'"
Besides personal safety, couples have other fears when their significant other is deployed, including fidelity. This is where the coin and covenant ceremony comes in. The ceremony helps alleviate some of the fears dealing with this issue, said Chap (Maj.) Terry Romine, 3rd Infantry Division Family Life Chaplain.
The coin and covenant ceremony is something that has occurred on other installations, but is completely new to Fort Stewart. The 293rd MP Co. is the first to go through it here, but it won't be the last.
"This was our very first opportunity to perform a coin and covenant kickoff for a deploying company," said Chap. Romine. "The coin and covenant is a program where we are going to try to increase and encourage fidelity for deploying couples, to write out that commitment, exchange that commitment, to encourage them to express that connection, to help them feel closer, be closer so that while they're deployed they can build some resilience in their relationship."
It is designed for every company that is deploying, he continued. He said he wants to make sure that every person who wants to participate in this ceremony gets the opportunity.
Couples sit back-to-back and pour their emotions out onto a piece of paper about their fears, loves and commitments that they want to make to their partners. Some laughed to themselves as they recounted a favorite moment about their partner while others began to cry with the thought of their husband or wife leaving.
After exchanging their commitment to each other and a brief, private discussion between each couple, they were instructed to pull the small black box out from under their seat and pull out the "Mizpah Coin" inside. The coin is split in two and each person gets a half of the coin. Across the coin is an Old Testament verse of Genesis 31:49, which states "The LORD watch between you and me, when we are out of one another's sight."
Sergeant John Pirie, 293rd MP Co., and his wife Lisa have been married for 12 years and been through two deployments already and believe that this ceremony will make this upcoming deployment a little easier to handle, but for first-timers like Sgt. Daniel and Pfc. Nicole Radcliffe, it is still a challenge.
"Even with the all fears we do have with starting a new Family, this commitment and bond we made today will help lessen the concerns we both have," said Sgt. Daniel Radcliffe. "It's a bond between the two of us, more than just our marriage; it's a bond that says we will be faithful to each other and do everything we can for each other while I'm deployed."
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