<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">Courtesy of DVIDS (Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System) at:</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "><a href="http://tinyurl.com/a8ck5xs">http://tinyurl.com/a8ck5xs</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: nowrap; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-text-size-adjust: none; "> </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">-------------------------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="text-align: left; ">Deployed couple relies on battlefield circulation to see each other</span></span></div></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">FORWARD OPERATING BASE MASUM GHAR, Afghanistan – On Dec. 26, Spc. Brendon Brown stepped off his Stryker at Combat Outpost Talukan, looking for a familiar face.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">After talking to a few soldiers on the COP, he made his way to a group of parked Strykers.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Out of one of the top hatches of a Mobile Gun System Stryker popped a petite redhead. She diligently climbed off the Stryker and into the arms of Brown, her husband.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If it weren’t for him being on the Combined Task Force 4-2 (4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division) commander’s personal security detachment, Brown might never have seen his wife, Spc. Stacia Brown, a preventative medicine specialist, during the deployment, he said.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The couple, who married in Sept. 2010, met in an airport in Korea when they were on their way to their first duty stations after graduating from Advanced Individual Training, which is where soldiers learn their specific military jobs.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; ">Since being married, this is their first deployment together.</div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Being able to see each other during deployment is a welcomed experience for both soldiers.</span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“It definitely gives me something to look forward to,” said Brendon, explaining that the little chances he gets to talk to his wife remind him he’s still a husband, not just a soldier.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Stacia said her reaction when she gets to see her husband is always the same.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“I see him and I always jump on him almost every single time,” said Stacia. “It’s kind of overwhelming.”</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Two months into the deployment, the couple has been able to see each other at least once a month, but there is never a guarantee that that pattern will continue throughout the next seven months.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Having each other in the same time zone is comforting for the couple, however, that means they are both in a combat zone as well.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“I think it makes it a little bit worse than him being home, because he’s in immediate danger too and knowing that kind of makes it a little more stressful,” said Stacia.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Brendon said he feels a similar worry about his spouse.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“It’s stressful knowing she’s in a danger zone, and I’m not there to make sure she’s OK and protect her like a husband’s supposed to,” he said.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">In preparation for the deployment, the Browns had to leave behind their only son, Gauge, with Stacia’s family.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Gauge was born prematurely nearly a year after Brendon and Stacia married. Now, a year later, they both missed their son’s first birthday, Dec. 21. In an effort to cope, they lean on each other for support and do whatever they can to stay close.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The Browns said they try to talk every night, whether it is through video chat or email. </div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Communicating daily is one of the pieces of advice Stacia gives to other couples who are deployed, but not in the same area.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“Stay focused, but definitely take advantage of your amenities,” she said. “If you do have the Internet, you know, whenever you do have your time to yourself, do check it because you are on the same time and everything.”</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“Even if he’s not on, I always leave him a message letting him know that I’m OK and he does the same thing too,” she added.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Communication is one of Brendon’s top three things he said are needed for dual military couples deployed together. The other two things are trust and understanding.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">The Browns have a good understanding, said Brendon. </div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">“It’s the understanding that we have something that takes priority over our marriage right now and that’s our job,” he said.</div></span><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><span style="text-align: left; "><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; ">That advice resonates for at least four couples in Brendon’s company alone who are toughing out a deployment whether they’re on the same base as their spouse or in different provinces.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; ">--------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spc. Brendon Brown greets his wife, Spc. Stacia Brown, with a hug during a visit Dec. 26, here. Brendon, a member of the Combined Task Force 4-2 (4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division) commander’s personal security detachment, and Stacia, a preventative medicine specialist, are deployed to Afghanistan together in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth, 4th SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)</span></div><span style="text-align: left; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="cid:E156C585-548A-4AFB-AD32-D09C0457D995" alt="450x300_q75.jpg" id="E156C585-548A-4AFB-AD32-D09C0457D995" width="450" height="300"></div></font></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; ">--------------------</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; text-align: -webkit-auto; "><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><span style="text-align: left; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Spc. Brendon Brown and Spc. Stacia Brown spend time together during a visit Dec. 26, here. Brendon, a member of the Combined Task Force 4-2 (4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division) commander’s personal security detachment, and Stacia, a preventative medicine specialist, are deployed to Afghanistan together in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth, 4th SBCT, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office)</span></div><span style="text-align: left; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><br></div><font><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto; "><img src="cid:6C3520A6-74DF-4E80-B777-3963C6209244" alt="450x300_q75.jpg" id="6C3520A6-74DF-4E80-B777-3963C6209244" width="450" height="300"></div></font></span></div></span></div></div></span></div></div></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; "><br></div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; ">-------------------------------------<br><br><div>Seeya round town, Moscow, because . . .</div><div><br></div><div>"Moscow Cares"</div><div><a href="http://www.MoscowCares.com">http://www.MoscowCares.com</a></div><div> </div><div><div>Tom Hansen</div><div>Moscow, Idaho</div><div><br></div><div>"<span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">There's room at the top they are telling you still</span><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "> </span></div><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">But first you must learn how to smile as you kill </span><br style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><span style="font-size: medium; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">If you want to be like the folks on the hill."</span></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="3"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469);">- John Lennon<br></span></font><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>