By Ken Moore
Arkansas Farm Bureau

They come from all walks of life and varied backgrounds.

Once, we called them “weekend warriors” — but they’re our family members, neighbors, co-workers and friends. Ever since Operation Desert Storm in 1991, they’ve been a vital part of the effort to confront terrorists in the Middle East.

They are members of the civilian militia: the National Guard and the U.S. Armed Forces Reserves.

“You name it, we’ve got it,” says Capt. Chris Heathscott, public affairs officer with the Arkansas National Guard. “We’re able to utilize a lot of civilian-acquired skills that the active component (that is, regular military) doesn’t have access to. There are electricians, welders, plumbers, preachers, teachers, lawyers and doctors — all an asset to our mission in the Guard.”

The average person may think those in the Guard and Reserves are trained more for duty here in the United States — for search and rescue, for example, or for cleanup after natural disasters — and not for combat.

The National Guard indeed plays a vital role in those efforts, Heathscott says, but guardsmen also train for combat. As a result, they have been pivotal in the nation’s major military operations.

“We train to the same standards as the active component before we go to war, so we can deploy with the same war skills.

“Not only do we benefit from the additional civilian-acquired skills, we benefit from the support of employers back home.”

He applauds Arkansas employers’ support of the men and women guardsmen serving away from home. In two of many instances, Heathscott notes that big companies in Arkansas have spent several thousand dollars on their employees in the Guard and Reserves.

“Wal-Mart employs many of the men and women in the Guard,” he says, “and has paid for $70,000 worth of bus fares to bring the soldiers home following their first tour of Iraq.

“Additionally, Alltel provided phone cards for every member of the 39th (Infantry) Brigade (Combat Team) during the first tour, so they could call home.”

Arkansas National Guard is made up of 10,500 soldiers and airmen. The 3,000 men and women in the 39th Brigade comprise roughly one third of that total.

“The 39th is currently training at Camp Shelby, Miss., for deployment to Iraq in March,” Heathscott says. “While it’s serving abroad, we’ll still have almost 6,000 men and women here who can support missions at home, such as the recent tornado recovery effort.”

This most recent deployment to Iraq is the second for the 39th. About half of those with the Brigade this year were on its first Iraq mission in 2003.

“These multiple mobilizations no doubt put a strain on our private workforce,” Heathscott says, “and I applaud the companies and employers for their enduring support.”

Specialist Tommy Muston is an Independence County Farm Bureau insurance agent in Batesville who has experienced this support. Prior to his retirement in early 2007, he served 12 years with Company B of the Infantry Brigade Combat Team of Arkansas National Guard.

At 17, as a junior in high school, Muston joined the local Guard. By the time he graduated, he had two years of training.

Just two weeks after turning 19, Muston got married. Then in the next few years, his wife Kristi spent much of her time preparing for her young husband to be called away from home.

His initial orders in 1999 sent him to guard a Patriot missile site in Kuwait. That lasted about six months; then, he came home and returned to ASU. Then, Sept. 11 happened.

“After the attacks,” he says, “I told my wife to expect me to go somewhere, and it would involve sand.”

In 2002, he went to Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula to ease tensions between that nation and Israel. After 11 months, he came home again, earned his degree and prepared for a career as an insurance agent.

“I interviewed for a job here in Batesville (and told them) not to expect me to be deployed for a long time.”

He got the job in April 2003. Three months later, things changed.

“I didn’t have any idea I would be called up again so soon,” he says. “Even though I had only been with the company three months when I got the call, it was as if I’d been here 30 years.”

His office remained the same, except for a yellow ribbon on the door, and he was paid on commission during his absence. When he got back, Muston says, “Farm Bureau supporting us the way they did made the transition back to civilian life that much easier.”

At 25 and in the Guard eight years, Muston was on his way to his third deployment. This time, his mindset was completely different.

“You know for 100 percent (certainty) people could be shooting at you over there.”

Muston realized they must always be on their guard. He lost four of his comrades to roadside bombs. One, high school friend Kenneth Melton, died just three weeks after they arrived in Iraq.

“It’s hard,” Muston says, “when you lose a friend.

“At 2:30 in the morning, we were out, and just out of the blue, they blew up a couple of roadside bombs.

“Then they began shooting at us. We turned and tried to return to base, and someone shot a (rocket-propelled grenade). It blew up about 20 feet on the other side of us.”

The danger extends beyond on-duty hours, too.

“We’d be playing ping pong during off time, and they’d be shooting mortars or RPGs into the base.”

Muston left the Guard early last year.

“We’d joke that rather than being a National Guard, we were an international Guard because every time there’s a deployment overseas, we were part of it.”

Their average age is 28, compared to about 21 in regular military units, “so we bring quite a bit more experience and a variety of skill-sets to the mission.”

Ten months after he returned from Iraq, Muston went to New Orleans to help deal with Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath.

“There was, unfortunately, a lot of looting going on,” he says, “and we had to run patrols to prevent as much of that as we could. There was a great need to help those people who lost their homes and to get them out of the city into shelters.”

First Lt. Edward Lewis of Russellville recently came to a crossroads in his military experience as well. After about a year in Iraq, he is now home preparing to re-enter civilian life.

Back home, Lewis is an insurance claims adjuster. In the Guard, he was executive officer for the 175th Postal Co. that covers the southern two-thirds of the country.

An Army Reservist for seven years, this was his first overseas tour. He truly ran postal routes seven days a week.

“He told me he gets on a helicopter and flies to different stations every day,” says Doug Ehorn, Lewis’ claims supervisor at Farm Bureau Center in Little Rock. “He carried a weapon, and once he got off the chopper, he literally ran to each of the buildings” because he knew he presented an opportune target for a sniper.

Latasha, Lewis’ wife of 2½ years, works for Arkansas Department of Human Services. They agree that the support their family has gotten from his employer has been “overwhelming.”

“Doug has gone beyond the call of duty,” Latasha says. “I can’t tell you how often Edward expresses (appreciation) for Doug…staying in contact with Edward throughout his deployment.

“It means a great deal to both of us.”

Ehorn says Lewis took his military duties very seriously, but obviously was eager to start working again.

“I wrote him a couple of weeks ago and told him about the tornado damage,” Ehorn says, “and he said he’d love to be back here working storm claims and helping families put their lives back together.

“That’s just the kind of man he is.”

Lewis and First Lt. Todd Sevier both grew up in Augusta and are long-time friends. Sevier, also a claims adjuster, lives in Conway. He served with Muston in both Kuwait and Egypt. Currently, he’s training in Mississippi for his first Iraq tour.

Ritchie Keene, Sevier’s boss, indicates Farm Bureau’s attitude is typical of most employers today. He knew Sevier was in the Guard when he joined Keene’s district, but it was never an issue.

“Our first concern is for his welfare and safety,” Keene says, “and for his wife Miranda — and we’re going to do anything we can as a company to ensure her needs are met.

“We are supporting them in every way.”

Sgt. Maj. Doug Pettit, a 21-year veteran of the Guard and Reserves, currently is training with Sevier at Camp Shelby. With seven of those 21 years in the Marine Reserves, this is his second tour to Iraq.

As possibly the senior enlisted man, Pettit will run the operations center for the 1-151 Cavalry Squadron, part of the 39th Brigade out of Warren, and be responsible for some 400 soldiers.

“There are four companies in this squadron,” Pettit explains, “and, among other things, it’s my job to keep up with their training and oversee their movement throughout the region.

Each one of the Arkansas soldiers interviewed for this story agree on two things: 1)They’re absolutely convinced they’ve done the right thing in serving the nation and aiding the struggle against terrorism; and 2) the role of the National Guard and Reserves, the citizen soldiers, has become increasingly and vitally important to U.S. security, both at home and abroad.

Most of those stories aren’t being told, they agree.

“I can tell you from first-hand experience … a lot of success stories,” says Heathscott. “While we were in Egypt, a little boy fell off the back of a truck, and one of our unit, a man who was a (registered nurse), was able to administer care to the child.

“And in Iraq, we have our own soldiers who are administering care to sick children, helping the people there in any way we can.

“We performed a wide variety of missions…to work hand-in-hand with the Iraqi civilians delivering items the good people back home would send for us to distribute: toys, clothing for Iraqi children.

“With our involvement in the local communities, you could tell there was a strong sense of support from those people we were helping.”

“Everybody’s got their opinion about the war,” Muston adds, noting the American public knows little of the Iraqi “schools that are being rebuilt or (sees little of) the children who are now able to attend school when, under Saddam’s dictatorship, they were not allowed.”

He notes that the Iraqis now have access to more food in open markets than they ever did.

“Saddam kept the food for his army and reigned with terror — but our military is helping those people have freedom and a chance for a better life.”

Muston got to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends after he left the Guard. He says the change was jarring, but the service was worth the experience.

“It’s a weird deal, a culture shock in a way, when you go from…where you could lose your life at any time, to one where everybody’s happy and enjoying themselves.

“That’s why we are there,” he says, “so we can have peace and security here in America.”