By Spc. Stephan Powell
B BATTERY, 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - One might argue that coming home from a deployment as a single soldier is almost as hard as the deployment itself. Readjusting to garrison life can bear a significant toll on a soldier who is not married. Reintegration can feel like an uphill battle.
As No Fear soldiers from 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th ADA Brigade come home from a successful deployment in Southwest Asia, members of the family readiness group was tasked to assist welcoming the returning heroes. It was an honor but a difficult objective.
Taking on the lion’s share of the assignment were two civilian individuals, who cared enough to want to be a part of it. Roxanne Rushbrook, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion 1-7 ADA FRG leader and Grace Clay, treasurer and co-leader of HHB 1-7 ADA FRG goal was to provide life support for single soldiers for the first 24 to 48 hours after they return home from being deployed with enough necessities until they could make it to a store.
Rushbrook and her team began by contacting various organizations and reaching out to the community. Within a day the donations were rolling in. Each returning single soldier was given a complete bedding set to include sheets, pillows, and blankets (handmade by Soldiers' Angels); towels, washcloths, and toiletries. Snacks to include toaster pastries, granola bars, pasta, candy, water, popcorn, chips were also provided; as well as laundry detergent.
“Married soldiers come home to their families that have provided their favorite drinks, food, etc, but the single soldier returns to an empty barracks room,” said Family Readiness Support Assistant Nicole Martuszewski, 1-7 ADA.
Each individual battery in 1-7 ADA also put items in the barracks rooms for their soldiers, but the great deal of the credit goes to Rushbrook and Clay who were instrumental in making this happen, stated Martuszewski.
A special thanks to all the volunteers and soldiers tasked to this detail: Kim King; Ann Feinstein; Natascha Montoya; Donna Culver; and, Alexis Maldonado. Also, special thanks goes out to those various spouses of the deployed soldiers and those organizations that donated like: Soldier’s Angels; multiple VFW’s and American Legions of Cumberland County; The Greater Fayetteville Chapter #1 American Ex Prisoners of War; Packs for Patriots; and Fayetteville Cares.
And, a special thanks to those soldiers who make our lives easier by serving our country honorably and making the lives of Americans and people all over the world safer and happier. We all appreciate your service, which compels so many to want to do things for you. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to your reappearance on Fort Bragg!