Photo By Emily McCamy | West Point Cadet Carson Williams and Army Capt. Frank Williams Jr., a member of Joint...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba — For most families, deployments mean time apart with little opportunity to spend time together — if any. However, for one lucky father and son, a deployment to Cuba and a summer job-shadow program is what brought them together — for the first time in over three years.
Army Capt. Frank Williams Jr., a judge advocate general with Joint Task Force Guantanamo Staff Judge Advocate, and his son, West Point Cadet Carson Williams, are finally getting to spend quality time together, professionally and personally.
"He and I have always been very close," Frank said about his relationship with his son. "We lived in a small town and were pretty much together all the time. I never missed any of his [high school] football or basketball games. [Since] he went to New York and I went to Iraq, we haven't seen each other for more than six days in the last three-and-a-half years."
Frank, who re-commissioned into the Army during Carson's senior year of high school, spent half of the year attending training in Louisiana.
"I didn't see him during the second semester of my senior year of high school because he was away," Carson said.
Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of their time apart.
"For my entire freshman and sophomore year in college I didn't see him because he left for Iraq," he continued. "Going into my junior year, we managed to arrange a few days to spend together during the summer of 2008, but we didn't have much time."
After the brief reunion, Frank left for Guantanamo Bay.
"I was on orders to come to Guantanamo Bay last fall and got a chance to attend the Army and Air Force football game with my son," Frank said. "That was October, 2008."
After a couple days together, duty called and Frank reported to Guantanamo Bay.
As a cadet now entering his junior year at West Point, Carson had a summer internship to think about, which would take place the following summer, before he entered his senior year.
"My dad asked me, 'What would you think about coming to [Guantanamo] for your summer detail?'" Carson said. "We worked it out and the officer-in-charge of summer details at West Point told me needed a letter of approval from my father and the [JTF commander], asking for me by name."
"They put some pretty serious requirements [in place] for [Carson] to come down here for his summer internship," Frank said. "We worked through [Navy] Cmdr. [Don] Martin, [SJA director], and he talked with [JTF Commander, Navy] Rear Adm. [David] Thomas, and within a couple weeks, they approved everything. We were shocked and surprised that we were able to do it."
Within a few weeks, Carson arrived in Guantanamo Bay. Half his time has been spent job-shadowing the platoon leaders and working with the 193rd Military Police Company and the other half with his father, learning about his job as a Staff Judge Advocate.
"For the past three years, we've e-mailed each other and [my dad has] always said, 'I just can't tell you about it, you have to see what I do,'" Carson explained. "This opportunity has given me the chance to understand how everything comes together, especially in a joint environment."
The summer internship program is intended to expose cadets to the various branches — or corps — the Army offers. Upon graduation, each cadet chooses which branch he or she would like to follow.
"I have about four months to decide which branch I'd like to choose," Carson said. "At West Point they mostly expose you to infantry [corps]. As far as [military police corps or adjutant general corps], I really don't know. I can definitely see myself in either branch, but I'm still undecided."
The experience hasn't been all work. During off-duty hours Frank and Carson have spent a lot of time catching up.
"We go running together, hit the gym and spend a lot of time talking," Frank said. "We've laughed more in the last week than we have in a long, long time. I really can't describe how enjoyable it's been for me to have my son here."
| Date Taken: | 06.19.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2009 14:31 |
| Story ID: | 35674 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 205 |
| Downloads: | 149 |
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