Guard Unit Gets Unexpected Reprieve

BROOKSVILLE - Members of the Florida National Guard unit in Brooksville and their families are getting a gift from the U.S. Army just in time for Father's Day.

About 40 members of the Charlie Company 1st Battalion 244th and 1st Battalion 111th Aviation regiments will get a five-day leave starting Wednesday. Most are expected to arrive at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The unit will head to Iraq later this month.

It's an unexpected but welcome surprise, said Cindy Downey, facilities manager at the Florida National Guard Aviation Support Facility off Spring Hill Drive. Downey also leads the facility's Family Readiness Group, which helps families prepare for and then cope with the separation that comes with their loved ones' deployment.

The unit, comprised of about 84 Blackhawk helicopter pilots, mechanics and other support staff, left Brooksville April 17 for training at Fort Sill, Okla. before a yearlong mission to Iraq. There was no scheduled leave time before the departure from Fort Sill.

But U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite asked the National Guard if there was a way to negotiate with the Army to allow at least some of the members to come home first, said Col. Glenn Sutphin Jr., Florida's legislative director of military affairs.

The Army was willing to grant leave for about half the unit but said it didn't have the resources for the unscheduled trip home and wouldn't pay for it, Sutphin said. So the Guard scoured the training missions of its own aircraft with hopes that the unit could hitch a ride to Brooksville or MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Sutphin said.

"It's a very, very small investment on our end to take care of our families, Sutphin said. "We owe that to our troops."

Earlier in the week, Sutphin said the unit appeared bound for Brooksville on a C-130, Sutphin said. Downey said plans then changed and the Guard members will be flying on KC-135, a larger plane that will require the longer runway at MacDill.

"Going a year without seeing someone is a lot harder, so this is really important to families," Downey said.

She speaks from experience. Her husband, First Sgt. Christopher Downey, and her son, Spc. Joseph Workman, are both in the unit.

The leave makes for some difficult decisions for unit members and their families, Downey said. Some members opted not to travel back in favor of having family meet them in Oklahoma. Of those, some decided only to have their spouses come and not their young children, Downey said.

"It's harder a lot of times to come back and see the kids and pull away again," Downey said. "That way the kids don't have to go through that turmoil."

But Downey says she'll be thankful to see her husband and son. She said only about 40 percent of the unit will be allowed to return on leave from Iraq, and she expects Christopher Downey will make the choice not to be among them.

"I know my husband would pass up the opportunity so younger soldiers can get home," she said, "so it's really nice to know I'm going to have the family back for a few days."