Reservists prepare to serve, spend year away from family

One father said his infant daughter probably won't remember him.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Miles Glotfelty said the hardest part of his activation with an Army Reserve unit will be leaving his family.
Glotfelty, 40, a major with the 635th Quartermaster Detachment that was activated Sunday, is leaving his wife, Pam; son, Dale Richard, 2; and daughter, Jessica, 7 months, for at least a year.
His son, who is nearly 3, will remember him when he gets back from Operation Iraqi Freedom, but Jessica probably won't, Glotfelty said.
"That's probably going to be the toughest part," he said.
"I volunteered to go," he said, noting he's spent 18 years in the military.
Glotfelty, who lives in Washington County, Pa., and sells building materials for a living, and his wife were both members of the 328th Quartermaster Detachment in Kingwood, W.Va.
His wife is still a reservist with that unit, but Glotfelty offered to be shifted to any other unit that was being activated but didn't have a full complement of soldiers. He ended up in the 635th.
"There's a sense of excitement when you get the call," he said, adding that he sees his service as an opportunity to do the job he has trained to do.
Pam Glotfelty said she isn't overly concerned about her husband's safety, but she agrees that a year is a long time to be away from loved ones.
"That's my main concern -- the separation factor," she said.
There's always a chance her unit could be activated as well, but the Glotfeltys, at the Army's insistence, have prepared a family-care plan that covers everything in their lives should both be activated, from who will take care of their children to how their bills will be paid.
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Deal
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Deal of New Castle is leaving his wife and four children, ages 5 through 15, for a year, but it isn't the first time.
He was activated with the 635th and spent eight months in Desert Storm in 1991.
Deal said he was stationed at another location when an Iraqi Scud missile hit a military encampment that injured some of the other reservists from his and other units.
He also served for eight months in Bosnia in 1997 with the 475th Quartermaster Group working on petroleum supply for American and allied troops.
"I don't have any issue about leaving," he said, although he admits he wishes the activation period wasn't for 18 months.
Deal, 41, has nearly 20 years of military service under his belt and works as a customer service representative with an insurance company.
The 635th got a lot more training on what to expect this time, Deal said, referring particularly to training on how to protect their convoy from attack.
Spec. Jennifer Shoemaker
Spec. Jennifer Shoemaker, 20, of Keyser, W.Va., also was a member of the 328th Quartermaster Detachment with Glotfelty, but, unlike him, she didn't volunteer for the reassignment to an active unit.
Nevertheless, she learned in November that she would be joining the 635th for its deployment to the Middle East. She said she is "nervous and anxious all at the same time."
She's not married and leaves no family. She said she plans to take advantage of the military's education benefits for veterans when she gets back.
She plans to become an elementary school teacher.
Shoemaker joined the reserves while still a junior in high school and said she's always been interested in being in the military.
Lt. Col. David Brown
Lt. Col. David Brown, 48, commander of the 11-member detachment, is a Pittsburgh native who lives in Florida and works for the federal Department of Revenue.
The unit doesn't know its exact destination or assignment yet, but it is due at Fort McCoy, Wis., on Saturday for additional training, he said.
Switching from citizen soldier to active duty is perhaps the most difficult task for the reserves, he said, pointing out that they already know how to do their specific jobs in petroleum supply management.
The additional training time will help them make the transition to active duty status, he said.
gwin@vindy.com