Serving in Iraq information & news page 38

Soldiers get family time before duty 72 troops to provide support in Iraq, Kuwait

By MURALI BALAJI
The News Journal

This summer, Jon Chevalley was handling loans and deposits for a bank in Virginia.

This month, he will be heading to the Middle East as a soldier who will provide financial operations support for the U.S. Army stationed in Iraq and Kuwait.

Chevalley was among 72 troops called to duty in August to serve in Iraq and Kuwait for 18 months. On Sunday, he and other soldiers met with friends and family members at the Robert E. Kirkwood Army Reserve Center in Mill Creek to say goodbye.

The family day included games and activities for children, music and a visit from Gov. Ruth Ann Minner. Minner exhorted the troops and met with their family members during her stop at the center.

Chevalley's parents, Don and Sherry, came from Arlington, Va., to discuss handling their son's finances while he is overseas. But the emotion of sending their son to Iraq - where more than 1,000 American soldiers have died in combat - factored into the conversation.

"I always hoped he wouldn't have to be sent over," Sherry Chevalley said. "I kind of dreaded it."

"You worry about the safety of your children and being able to protect them," she said. "It's not in our hands anymore. All we can do is hope and pray."

Jon Chevalley said he was expecting to be called to duty, but said that hasn't eased the anxiety of going to the Middle East.

"I'm kind of nervous," he said.

The soldiers at the Kirkwood Army Reserve Center are not going for battle assignments. Their main duties, like Chevalley's, will be to provide pay support and other financial expertise for the soldiers already stationed in the combat areas.

Sgt. Wanda Strait had just taken an administrative job in August when she received word that she would be heading to the Middle East.

"I was shocked," she said. "I figured I wasn't going to be called up so soon."

Strait said that after the initial surprise of being called to duty, she has been getting ready to make the transition back to soldier life.

"I got serious and started focusing on what I needed to do," she said.

Lt. Col. Kellie Crespo, who oversees the deployment, said the soldiers will be dispersed in Iraq and Kuwait. The soldiers will train for the next two weeks at the reserve center before going to Fort McCoy, Wis., for final deployment preparations.

Crespo said some soldiers and their family members have been nervous about going away, but said they are prepared for the unexpected in war.

She noted detachments from Fort Lee, Va., and Owings Mills, Md., also were part of the group heading overseas.

For some soldiers, the call to duty is all too familiar. Jeff Steinberg, a New Castle County police officer, will lead a 20-soldier detachment when he gets to Iraq.

Steinberg was called to serve in Germany in 1999, but at the time he had only one child. Now he has three.

"It's harder on my wife," he said. "We both have family in the area, so we're pretty lucky to have them here while I'm away."

Specialist Scott Reed was working as a fill-in manager at Blockbuster Video in Pittsburgh when he found out he would be going to the Middle East.

"When you think about it, it's scary," said Reed, who served in the Persian Gulf for four years in the 1990s. "It's definitely challenging, but we just got to get to everybody ready."