37th "Team" mates deploy together: Family, friends provide support to each other

Courtesy Photo | Battle buddies Pfc. Megan Aigner and Spc. Katrina Self are deploying together with Company G, 237th Support Battalion, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The two met at basic and advanced individual training and became best friends.  

01.24.2008

Courtesy Story

Ohio National Guard Public Affairs

By Maj. Nicole Gabriel
Ohio National Guard
(Staff Sgt. Joshua Mann contributed to this story)

Best Friends

When Pfc. Megan Aigner, of the Ohio Army National Guard, called her best friend in California and asked her to deploy with her to Kuwait, her battle buddy did not hesitate.

"It was hands down I was going," Spc. Katrina Self said. "I was ready to go."

The two Soldiers met at basic training last year and became best friends. When Aigner returned home in August and began preparing for the deployment with the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, she decided to call Self and ask her to go with her unit, Company G, 237th Support Battalion from Medina.

"She said 'OK' and jumped on a plane three days later," Aigner said. Self said she probably would have left sooner, but she needed to obtain approval from the California National Guard to transfer and deploy with the 37th. They joined 2,500 Ohio and Michigan citizen-Soldiers who left in early January for Fort Hood, Texas, where they will conduct mobilization training before going to Kuwait.

Both women said they looked forward to deploying with their best friend. "It's going to make it easier to have that trust and friendship," Aigner said. "I am very happy to have her go."

Self agreed. "It will help when we have a problem. I'll have someone to talk to and have a support system right next to (me)."


Husband and wife

Sgt. Joe and Spc. Maggie Herron of Company E, 237th Support Battalion, Lima, feel more comfortable about the deployment, knowing they will be together. The two met in Company E and married Nov. 27, 2007. Joe will provide convoy security and Maggie will dispatch vehicles.

"It's nice," Maggie said. "I am glad I'm not leaving him. He's been over there before and that makes me feel better."

Their parents are happy, too. "We're proud and we're glad she's going with her husband. We miss her already," said Joe and Nancy Ellston, Maggie Herron's parents.

Joe's mom, Julia Storer, has become used to sending her sons and husband on deployments over the last few years, but knows she has to stay strong to support all of her Soldiers and her one Sailor, deployed to Qatar. Of course, despite her experience, she still expects Joe to stay in touch.

"I am comfortable she's with him because she'll be on him to call home more often," Storer said.


Brothers at Odds

As children, Spcs. Joseph and Andrew Demczyk played "Soldier games" together. As adults, the two joined the Ohio Army National Guard and recently left for a yearlong deployment to Kuwait.

While their "Soldier games" have evolved into real-life Soldiering, Joe and Andy, both cooks in Company G, 237th Support Battalion, said they still have fun working together – even if they argue about everything, including how to cook or whose idea it was to join the Guard.

"He thinks I was following in his footsteps, but I would have joined anyway," Andy said.

"Well, I helped push you along," Joe said, trying to edge in the last word on the subject.

"I would have beaten you to it if you weren't older," Andy added.

Their brotherly banter does not keep them from getting compliments on their food. And the one thing they can seem to agree on is they will take good care of each other during this deployment.

• Date Taken: 01.24.2008
• Date Posted: 01.24.2008 18:07
• Story ID: 15763