Nellis troops continue deployment overseas

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

Master Sgt. Joe Perez and his wife, Vicki, strolled arm-in-arm into a Nellis Air Force Base hangar Tuesday, preparing to spend their 19th wedding anniversary saying goodbye.

After working a shift that began at 4 a.m., Perez took his wife and their son to the hangar where other members of Perez's unit, the 66th Rescue Squadron, were preparing for deployment to southwest Asia. Vicki Perez wore a new diamond ring as well as her husband's wedding band for luck.

"If you're going to have a 19th anniversary, you might as well have it in a hangar," Perez, a medic, said.

Perez was one of 125 Nellis personnel being deployed as part of a military buildup near the Persian Gulf as President Bush works to build an international coalition to wage war against Iraq.

Three C-17 transport planes took off for the 25-hour flight Tuesday night and two more were to head out today with Nellis troops from the 66th Rescue, 58th Rescue and 757th Aircraft Maintenance squadrons, Maj. Gen. Stephen Wood, commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis, said.

"We always prepare, we're always ready to go," Wood, who has been at Nellis for six months, said.

The base currently has "well over" 900 people deployed around the world, compared with 300 to 600 most of the time, Nellis spokesman Master Sgt. Rich Covington said. The three squadrons shipping members out Tuesday and today already have troops in the area, he said.

"It's nice to know the time has come," said Lt. Col. Todd Bolger, commander of the 66th Rescue, who was deploying Tuesday. "Everybody has a positive attitude. They know what they need to do. Yet it's hard saying goodbye. It's never easy."

Underneath a current of excitement, families said farewell with tears and fear throughout Tuesday night, standing amid piles of gear, desert camouflage jackets, hats and water bottles.

"I'm a medic and my job is to save lives," Perez said, but Vicki Perez said this mission was different.

"We don't know what will happen," she said of the future of President Bush's global war on terrorism and possible war in Iraq. "I'm a little scared, especially not being able to contact him."

Perez, his wife and son have been stationed at Nellis about a year after a stint in Korea.

"It's sad they have to leave on their anniversary," Derek Perez, 13, said.

Maj. Bob Walker, who will fill Bolger's shoes for the 66th Rescue Squadron during the deployment, took the opportunity to spend extra time with his squadron-mates before they left.

"I'm going to spend time with some of these guys I'm not going to see for a while," he said, noting no one knows when they might return.

Senior Airman Patrick Martin wrapped his arms around a tearful wife, Airman 1st Class Andrea Martin. She will continue her duties at Nellis. "We've been married almost a year," Andrea Martin said through her tears.

Staff Sgt. Douglas Musser, a flight engineer, had said goodbye to his 3-year-old son, Brycen, earlier in the day. "I think it's a great job," he said, but admitted it was hard to leave his child.

While aerial gunner Staff Sgt. Steve Martin left his wife and a 9-month-old baby girl behind, he said he hoped not to have to shoot anyone.

"I'm just a little guy," said Martin, an enlisted member, "but I think we have proven again and again that America is willing to help other countries."