Illinois National Guard Specialist Joe Daniels says thanks to his wife, he will be able to concentrate on his job when he deploys to Afghanistan next month.
This is Daniels’ first deployment to the mideast and even though he has a newborn and three young daughters at home, he says his wife Noelle has the support network she needs while he is gone.
“My wife is very supportive of the morning; she’s pretty strong,” says Daniels. “And with the newborn, she has a good family system here, back home.”
Daniels is part of a small contingent of area soldiers that will leave just a week before Christmas and will work with Polish soldiers in Afghanistan. Illinois Adjutant Major General Daniel Krumrei gave the wives of the soldier being deployed his wife’s phone number and told them to call her day or night if they need anything.
“It is an incredible system to assist the families” says Krumrei. “Twenty years ago, we had nothing.”
He says families of National Guard soldiers and airmen are also part of the Guard “family” where everyone looks after each other. The team will return next April.