Posted on 01/18/2006 8:55:44 PM PST by SandRat
1/18/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Air Force families find ways to stay connected when separated -- phone calls, emails, and internet chats stretching over 10 time zones are commonplace.
But nothing beats seeing a spouse face-to-face.
Deployed to Balad Air Base, Iraq, Staff Sgt. Millie Nordman knows how it feels to be separated from her husband. She and her husband have endured deployment separation twice. But today, rather than speaking into a phone receiver to talk to her husband, Sergeant Nordman just meets him for a game of putt-putt golf.
Husband Staff Sgt. Craig Nordman is also deployed to Balad Air Base. Both Airmen are wrapping up a four-month deployment with the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineering Squadron. He is deployed as a heavy equipment operator and she is here an engineer journeyman.
The joint deployment came as a surprise to the couple who have been married for four and a half years. They are stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., with the 355th Civil Engineer Squadron.
"I never thought we would deploy to the same base together," she said. "I was told it would never happen. When I found out I was going to Balad in June, I told my supervisor my husband was already going there. They said it was OK and I would be going as well."
Sergeant Craig Nordman said, "I liked the idea; I thought it was cool. I was interested in seeing what she does while she is deployed."
Sergeant Millie Nordman arrived here a few weeks before her husband.
"Getting here first, I was able to tell him what the squadron and base were like," she said. "I told him what to bring and what not to bring."
Being deployed together has its ups and downs, according to the Nordmans.
"It is better being deployed together for many reasons," she said. "I don't worry as much here. When he deployed the first time, he was not able to call me often; I would hear things on the news and not really know what was going on. This time, I know where he is during alarm reds and if he is safe."
Although the couple is assigned to the same unit, they work in different duty sections, so they don't see one another at work much. But, they make a point to spend their off-duty time together.
"We have only worked on one project together here," he said. "However, we have the same day off and we are always together after work."
"We just hang out and talk about how our days went,” she said. “We spend time hanging out in the recreation tent playing cards, video games and putt-putt golf."
Now this is a different way to have a married life.
Well, that COULD have some drawbacks.
"Hey, Nordman, we're going into town for a beer."
"Um, sorry, I can't go. Gotta help the wife hang up curtains."
"Bummer, man. Okay, later!"
BTTT
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