Airman was on his 7th deployment when killed

[unhappycamper]

Airman was on his 7th deployment when killed
By Bryce S. Dubee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, May 18, 2008

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Air Force Staff Sgt. Travis Griffin was only 15 days from returning home on leave at the midway point of his Iraq tour when he was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Baghdad.

He was on his fourth Iraq deployment — his seventh to the Middle East. He had volunteered for the yearlong assignment, conducting patrols and training police forces in heart of the Iraqi capital.

Griffin, 28, had served in the Air Force nine years and deployed to Iraq in October 2007 as a member of Detachment 3 of the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron.

In an April news story by The Associated Press, Col. Robert E. Suminsby Jr., 377th Air Base Wing commander at Griffin’s home station of Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., said Griffin’s mission in Iraq was longer and more dangerous than most for deployed airmen.

"Most deploy for four to six months. He actually volunteered to go on a 365-day tour," Suminsby told AP. "He was one of the folks that really stepped up to do not just a very dangerous and demanding mission, but one that was going to last a lot longer."


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54886

[Squatch]

1. "He had volunteered for the yearlong assignment..."

[KharmaTrain]

2. The "Buddy" Syndrome

I can't imagine all the demons and stress that 7 deployments could bring...and also how to react as these stories are so common these days. Not one day passes where we don't hear of another soldier who has gone back into that meat grinder and not come out...and how many keep going back.

Not long ago, I chatted with someone who had done 3 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and finally has gotten his DD214, but still fears he may get the call again. He says there's incredible pressure from within to "re-up" and that many take the bait since their "stateside" lives aren't much better than what they see in Iraq. A good number of them have become attached to their divisions and buddies and when one is called, the others feel a strong obligation to follow. This was especially true during the early days and he said a major reason he went back...not for the "cause" as much as he felt he was letting his buddies down if he remained behind.

One thing he also pointed out is that for many in the military, this is their only life, they know nothing else. The military doesn't prepare those who are inducted at 18 or 19 for getting into the real world...and many jumped into the military to avoid that world. It's a wicked spiral as the tougher it is to find a job here...or to afford an education, the bigger the lure to stay in the military...either as a place to hide from the real world or as their only means of support...financially and emotionally.