Farewell filled with smiles, sadness
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE — One after the other, five of Master Sgt. Richard Scott's seven kids hugged their father yesterday as he prepared to head off to Qatar.
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The 42-year-old airman from Syracuse, N.Y., previously served in Iraq, where he remembers summertime temperatures hitting 120 in a dining tent and 145 in direct sunlight.
Airman 1st Class Benjamin Taylor, left, Airman 1st Class Michael Herrod, center, and Senior Airman Kevin Cenance of Hickam Air Force Base talk with their loved ones before deploying on four-month missions to the Middle East and Afghanistan.
"As a military person, the action is in Iraq, but it's one of those things — they need me in Qatar, and the job is just as important," Scott said.
Over the next four months, about 74 airmen from Hickam will see a range of wartime service — from Qatar to Iraq and Afghanistan.
As part of its Air Expeditionary Force rotation this spring, more than 225 Hickam airmen are deploying to the Middle East and Afghanistan regions.
The 74 who left Hickam yesterday on a chartered World Airways MD-11 are at the front end of that deployment cycle.
"Just about every unit within the (15th Airlift) wing is sending some troops," said Lt. Col. Dan Settergren, the deputy mission support group commander.
At least nine leaving yesterday are heading to Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. Twenty-five more are going to Balad Air Base north of Baghdad in Iraq.
Capt. Reid Matsuda, 30, who lives in 'Aiea, will be in charge of a nine-man team from the 15th Civil Engineering Squadron in Afghanistan.
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"To me, it's great," Matsuda said of the deployment. "At this point, I've been all over the world, and this is one of the places I haven't visited yet."
Senior Airman Ralph Keller embraces his wife, Nicole, once more before deploying with 73 other Hickam airmen.
Second Lt. Steve Vick, 24, from Tempe, Ariz., will be part of a 25-man team from the 15th Civil Engineering Squadron at Balad Air Base, where some Hawai'i National Guard and Reserve soldiers are based.
Vick, whose wife, Tasha, was seeing him off, knows that the air base gets hit with mortars or rockets pretty routinely.
"It's a high threat level, but it's a real big base," Vick said. "It's a lot bigger than Hickam. I guess it's reassuring in as much as you hear about it being attacked."
He'll probably be a project engineer and not have to go off base during the four-month deployment, minimizing his risk.
Vick, who has been in the Air Force about a year, said it's exciting to go "and do the things we've trained to do." He also said the relatively short four-month deployment is "huge on morale. That's a big thing. It's got to be tough on the Army guys to watch us arrive and pack up and leave before them."
The Army is sticking to 12-month tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Marines typically serve about seven months in a war zone.
Matsuda
Tasha Vick, 23, a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, said the deployment will mean even more time apart. The couple has been married for 1 1/2 years, and she just got back from two months of training in Washington, D.C.
"I'm worried about him, obviously," she said. But she also has two brothers in the Army who were in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time.
"You just have to know that everything is going to be OK," she said.
Scott, a team chief with the 15th Services Squadron, will be working on lodging, recreation and other support issues for troops in Qatar.
After 21 years in the Air Force, he and his family are used to deployments. His wife is a captain in the Air Force Reserve. Five of their adopted kids, ranging from 12 to 15, were there to see off Dad. A 19-year-old was at work, and a 25-year-old lives in Texas.
"I'll miss him. That's a long time to be gone," said 15-year-old Shawana.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
