Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Caldwell | Spc. Kara Bailey, the admin clerk for Company F, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry...... read more read more
VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, Iraq — Spc. Kara Bailey already knows a little bit about tackling hard choices.
When her unit, Company Foxtrot, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), began to accelerate toward a deployment to Iraq in 2010, she was forced to choose between continuing her path toward Officer Candidate School or joining her fellow soldiers for overseas duty.
“It was the most difficult decision,” Bailey said, “but I chose deployment and my battle buddies.”
However, Bailey said she does not regret her decision to stay with Company F.
“This deployment has gone by super fast,” she said. “It hasn’t been that bad overall.”
Bailey, who worked as a special-education teacher for the Hood River Oregon School District before she deployed, handles a critical role in Company F.
As the unit administration non-commissioned officer, Bailey must keep track of an array of different items each day.
“I ensure things such as pay, leave and medical records are squared away and updated,” she said.
Bailey said that she enjoys her job and the battle rhythm she has fallen into.
“I love it; I’m on a set schedule and I’m in the office and I get to go out,” she said.
For Bailey, “going out” means filling in as a driver for one of Company F’s convoy escort teams when they travel the roads of central Iraq.
“It is totally different surroundings,” she said.
Sgt. 1st Class Ben Hall, Company F’s readiness non-commissioned officer, and a native of Hood River, Ore., commends Bailey for stepping up to do these additional missions.
“She is actually asked for by CET commanders,” Hall said. “She has volunteered to be a driver on several combat missions.,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ben Hall, Company F’s readiness non-commissioned officer, a native of Hood River, Ore.
For Bailey, the deployment did deliver some hardships. Her brother, Sgt. Arne Bailey, was also a member of Company F, but injured his back and was sent back to the United States for more in-depth treatment.
“When he left, it was a pretty emotional time,” she said.
Bailey, a resident of The Dalles, Ore., said she also learned while in Iraq that her mother was diagnosed with cancer.
“That has been one hard thing about this deployment,” she said about her mother’s diagnosis.
Bailey said she misses her family and wants to be with her mother while she battles cancer. Yet she also said she is committed to completing her tour of duty with Company F.
“I’m very dedicated,” Bailey said. “If I just left and didn’t come back, I’d feel like I failed.”
Her commander, Capt. Max Arvidson, a native of Parma, Idaho, said he knows Bailey is devoted to her family.
“She is the most family-oriented soldier I have,” Arvidson said.
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2011 12:41 |
| Story ID: | 68158 |
| Location: | VICTORY BASE COMPLEX, IQ |
| Web Views: | 149 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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