U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBLITY -- For Staff Sgt. Carleena Scott and Sgt. Walter Scott, military separations are a part of the balancing act between Army service and family life. The couple felt a short sacrifice would be worth a more stable future, which is why Staff Sgt. Scott made the choice to join her husband when he received orders to a restricted one-year tour in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
That decision also involved leaving their three children in the care of trusted family members back home.
Their choice was a practical but emotional one, said Staff Sgt. Scott. On the one hand, it allowed them to match up their DEROS dates, ensuring their timelines matched up for future permanent change of station moves and stability for their family. The challenging—and emotional---part was explaining it to the children.
“They were upset. They didn’t like it. They didn’t want both of us to leave, but I had to explain the Army side that when it’s time to go somewhere next, it’s not just going to be mommy leaving or just daddy leaving. We will be together as a family,” Staff Sgt. Scott said. “So we had to make some sacrifices, and they understood.”
“Our daughter will be a junior by the time we get back, so she won’t have to move during her last two years of high school,” said Sgt. Scott.
The couple is no stranger to being apart, experiencing their first separation at the very beginning of their marriage while he was stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas, and she was nearly 700 miles away at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Sgt. Scott, a Senior Information Technology Specialist with the Regional Cyber Center, and Staff Sgt. Scott, a Human Resources Sergeant with the 595th Transportation Surface Brigade (SDDC) are able to share living quarters and consider themselves fortunate to be with each other during this assignment.
“I definitely think it would have been a lot more stressful without her here. I’m thankful that she came,” said Sgt. Scott.
“It’s nice to have a hard day of work and come home to somebody that you know understands what you’re going through. We’re out here together so we can compare struggles together and I can actually talk through it with him to help me get some insight into what’s going on. So it’s nice to have your other half with you going through what you’re going through,” said Staff Sgt. Scott.
The couple speaks to their children on the weekends, but because of time and schedule differences, it’s challenging to call them during the weekdays. “We might be able to sneak in a phone call in at one or two o’clock in the morning our time, but it’s not likely. We’re too tired,” said Staff Sgt. Scott.
Staff Sgt. Scott said the children had come to accept the absences and the late hours associated with military life, illustrating the resilience built up over years with having Army parents.
As for herself, she said that parents are never really prepared to leave their children. “I miss the children. I’m sure they feel the same. I think we develop an understanding of this is how it’s going to be. This is the Army. This is what I’m going to have to do. I guess you can call it resiliency.”
Her husband agreed.
The Scott family’s navigation of this chapter of their life together is just one of example of the resilience, commitment to each other and the mission, and the sense of duty and sacrifice that defines our military families.
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