GRANTS PASS, Ore.– Hundreds of local National Guard families said goodbye to loved ones this past weekend in a farewell ceremony. On Monday. the 1-186 Infantry Battalion in Southern Oregon headed to Somalia and Djibouti to provide support to the United States’ national partners in the area.
For the next year, NBC5 News will be following three of these families as they go through this deployment. The first family to be introduced are the Kirkley’s. While all the families agree that it’s a difficult decision to make to leave your family, the Kirkleys have been through deployments before.
While it was difficult at first, it’s since become their way of life.
“It’s just become a part of who we are,” said Carrie Kirkley.
Captain Kevin and Carrie Kirkley have lived a life not many others have.
“We were starting a family so we weren’t looking to uproot and move and go active duty,” said Kevin.
Moving to Grants Pass 12 years ago to be closer to family, the Kirkley’s wanted to find a sense of community – while also doing something larger than themselves.
“It’s not just about dollars but it’s about lives,” said Kevin.
Both coming from a military family, Kevin enlisted in the Oregon Army National Guard and joined the 1-186 Infantry Battalion.
His first deployment was to Afghanistan between 2014 and 2015 as Carrie stayed to work a full-time job, continue nursing school and take care of their young children – Conor, Cassius, and Christian – who are now ages 10, 12, and 18 respectively.
“Having the kids at home and being a single parent was daunting at times,” said Carrie, who now works at the VA hospital in White City.
The family said if it wasn’t for their extended families such as Kevin’s parents and a community that was understanding of Kevin’s line of work, it would have been much harder.
Still, Kevin’s job came with other sacrifices outside of his weekend training and deployments.
“Missing games, missing graduations, missing family events,” said Carrie. Kevin chimed in acknowledging he even missed the birth of their youngest child Conor.
As of this week, those sacrifices will be made again as Kevin deploys to Somalia and Djibouti for the next year as part of his federal mission. He’ll be among 450 members from the 1-186 which will be merging with another battalion from New Mexico on their mission known as Operation Enduring Freedom.
They will be stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti to help provide security in the region.
“You know everybody knows their job,” said Kevin. “If you do it, things click, and you win and things come out positively.”
While there always will be worries and difficulties, the Kirkley’s have been through it before. They hope now they can now help other families going through this for the first time.
“They call me dad,” said Kevin with a laugh talking about his fellow soldiers. “‘Oh you’re just kind of like the older dad or the older brother.’ That kind of keeps things moving forward. That’s the big thing, keep moving everything in a positive direction.”
It may be a sacrifice that can weigh heavy at times. But with 12 years of experience, the Kirkleys wouldn’t have it any other way.
“A lot of the times, they’ll ask are you a part of a military family or were you in the military yourself,” said Carrie. “I feel very proud when I get to say yes I’m a part of a military family.”
Stay with NBC5 News as we tell the stories of two more families that will be experiencing their first deployment.
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