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‘A Great Army Wife’

Oct-10-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

Newsweek

Capt. Brad Velotta shares his thoughts about stress and how his extended Baghdad deployment is affecting his family.

Oct. 10, 2006 - The following is the text of an e-mail sent by Brad Velotta, a captain in the 4-23 infantry battalion of the U.S. Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade, to NEWSWEEK after his wife Jodi discussed the impact of his absence on their marriage and their children:

My son speaks and runs whereas he didn't walk/talk when I left. I try to keep him engaged with sounds and various questions about trucks, his favorite topic. He lasts 20 seconds and then he's off to play with his trucks. My daughter speaks to me in organized, coherent, and logical conversations about her daily tasks and plans for the upcoming days only to hand the phone off to her mom. All I wanted to do is hear her little voice. She is so assertive. This is
where and when I feel stress.

The Army has really prepared its leaders and Soldiers to manage high levels of stress and fatigue. I feel all of the leadership in the 172d SBCT [Stryker Brigade Combat Team] demonstrates this. The new challenge for counselors is to manage the effects of extended minor stressors. The Army has numerous programs to facilitate dependants' stress and anxiety to the point the Army should be used as a model for any company who routinely sends its employees to the other side of the world for a year or more at a time. Families are now faced with uncertainty in an organization that has been so "certain" with timelines and calendars for so long.

Deployment puts a "healthy stress" on marriages when it is planned, expected, anticipated, and executed within the established time line. When ANY deployment is extended at the last minute, stress manifests exponentially, even for the strongest families. My greatest stressor is being unable to speak with my children for more than 60 seconds when I'm able to call. It's so petty from an outsider's perspective because they are 3 and 2 respectively and have been without their dad for 14 months. They don't realize how important it is to me.[...]


Related Article:

'It's Tearing Families Apart' - Newsweek


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