Serving with a passion: Reservists, Guardsmen complete total force

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • 332nd Expeditionary Public Affairs office
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq --  How do a school principal, state police trooper and Tae Kwon Do school owner all find themselves thousands of miles from home, living and working together in a middle of the desert?

This isn't the build up to a corny joke. It's a common occurrence for Air Force Reservists and Air National Guardsmen, with civilian careers unrelated to their military duties, to deploy in support of the Global War on Terrorism.

For Chief Master Sgt. John Carter III, Master Sgt. Karyn Combs and Master Sgt. Michael Linnehan, that occurrence became a reality when they arrived here in January, March and January, respectively. Balancing civilian careers, families and community involvement -- these three Airmen do it all for the love of their country.

The Elementary School Principal
Master Sgt. Karen Combs is the director of Equal Opportunity for Balad and its subordinate units. While deployed and during drill weekends Sergeant Combs works to ensure servicemembers know the resources they have available to them if they feel they've been discriminated against or treated unfairly.

Although the Duke Field, Fla. reservist works in a one-person shop, with the help of liaisons at each forward operating base, she meets the equal opportunity needs for nearly 10,000 Airmen located throughout Iraq, assigned to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing.

During the week at her civilian job, Sergeant Combs tucks away her master sergeant stripes and puts on her proverbial hat as Dr. Combs, principal of Eglin Elementary School on Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Sergeant Combs, who has a doctorate in administration and supervision, started her career in education as a teacher in California in 1976. She moved to Florida in 1985 where she started on her path to being appointed as a school principal in 1997.

"I'm responsible for faculty and staff, so that [is] first and foremost; we do the best job to educate our children in the core subjects, reading, math, science and writing," Sergeant Combs said.

In the eight years since Sergeant Combs was appointed as principal, the school went from being rated as a "C" school to an "A" school, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the faculty and parents, Sergeant Combs said.

Sergeant Combs' passion for teaching and education intertwines with the love of her country, and the experiences from both help enrich both careers.

"In terms of professional growth and leadership, it [being a Reservist] has almost worked hand-in-hand with being a principal," Sergeant Combs said. "When I became a facilitator with the Noncommissioned Officer Leadership Development Program [out of Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.,] we were given different scenarios and opportunities to practice leadership. As a school principal it's imperative that we have leadership skills to facilitate the process of learning."

While she is devoted to her civilian career and heavily involved in her community in organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Business Women's Association for which she was selected as the National Business Woman of the United States of America in 2005, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Okaloosa County Alumnae Chapter, she is excited to serve her country in a deployed location for the first time.

"When I joined the Air Force it was a commitment to my country and this is part of it," Sergeant Combs said. "I've been training for this for years."

The State Trooper
Chief Master Sgt. John Carter III wears a uniform more often than just weekends. As a traditional Guardsman, assigned to the 103rd Airlift Wing at Bradley Air National Guard Base, in East Granby, Conn., he is a first sergeant, affectionately known as a 'shirt' for Airmen assigned to the wing staff and operations group.

While deployed to Iraq, Chief Carter continues to serve in his capacity as a first sergeant for more than 300 Airmen, assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. On a daily basis he ensures his troops are well taken care of. Some of his duties include making sure Airmen have the means to contact family members, and counseling Airmen on personal matters. These duties extend beyond typical duty schedules.

Regardless of whether or not he is in drill status at home station.

"Being a first sergeant, people still call me all the time. I get calls at my office when I'm working my civilian job, I get e-mails and people call me on my cell phone," Chief Carter said.

When the Chief isn't serving the country as a member of the Connecticut Air National Guard, he's serving his community as a Connecticut State Police officer. He is a polygraph examiner, who administers polygraph tests to police recruits during the hiring process and to alleged criminals.

"I like the criminal tests a lot better because that's where you prove yourself a good examiner because you're either trying to get a person who's innocent and prove they're innocent or if they did it, get them to confess," Chief Carter said. "Sometimes it's a tough job. I might be in there from three hours to six hours doing a criminal test. I might get them to a certain point and they don't want to give it up."

Although it seems Chief Carter's two careers are totally unrelated, he reveals he couldn't have one without the other.

"My time as a Guardsman actually got me recruited to be a state trooper," Chief Carter said. "There was a major who would come into our shop and talk to our [senior master sergeant]. Everyday he would just come in to talk and he always said, 'Hey, you should be a trooper.' I never really thought about being a police officer. He bugged me for about a year and I really started to look into because I thought if this guy is bugging me for a year I can at least look into it. Then I started asking questions and it seemed like a good career but I didn't know if I wanted to leave my comfort zone. I thought 'I'm comfortable here at the Guard. Do I want to leave here and go somewhere unknown?' I went through the hiring process and it took about a year and I was accepted. I came to find out the major was not only a major in our unit, he was also a major with the state police. I told him I got accepted and he said 'Yeah I know, I've been recruiting you.' "

Twenty years later, Chief Carter is celebrating 24 years as a Guardsman and 20 years as a state police officer, as well as a promotion from detective to sergeant.

His experiences in the last 20 years as a state trooper have prepared him for his position as a first sergeant. Before becoming a polygraph examiner Chief Carter served as a resident trooper.

"A resident trooper covers towns that don't have a police department," Chief Carter said. "You are the chief of police in that town. I dealt with the mayor, local constables who worked under me; I wrote the budget and worked with the businesses and school districts. That helped me a lot in becoming a first sergeant in dealing with the issues I deal with as a shirt."

His dedication to serving doesn't end with the Guard and state police. He is a former Drug Abuse Resistance Education instructor, a member for the Men and Women for Justice and the National Black Troopers Coalition, president for his First Sergeant's Council for Bradley ANGB and has been the board president of the Montessori Discovery School for the last four years.

"Our job as the board [of Montessori Discovery School] is to make sure the school is going to be viable," Chief Carter said. "It's a bunch of parents and we see what's going to be best for the school. We work with the school directress, who is like a principal, and we have monthly meetings. We just went through a process similar to a [unit compliance inspection] so we could be accredited. It was tough."

As expected, it was not an easy decision to choose to leave his family, co-workers and comrades in the community to deploy to Balad for six months, his longest deployment to date, but it was a necessary choice.

"I said it was time for me to do something for my country and to do something for myself," Chief Carter said. "The best part is serving the people, serving the country. Being in the Guard, you're serving the people of Connecticut and you're serving your country. As a state trooper I'm serving the people of Connecticut and even the people just driving through. It's all about them."

The Tae Kwon Do School Instructor/Owner
It's a wonder Master Sgt. Michael Linnehan has any time to sleep with two full-time jobs and his commitment to his country as a Reservist.

Sergeant Linnehan, who is deployed from Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., is the noncommissioned officer in charge of in-flight emergencies for the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility here. His primary responsibilities include making sure there are four operating ambulances with a primary and secondary team to respond to IFEs and flightline emergencies.

Back home in Massachusetts, Sergeant Linnehan is an emergency medical technician instructor as a Reservist and a civilian EMT full time.

His second full-time job is as a Tae Kwon Do school owner and instructor.

Sergeant Linnehan, a former Sailor, said he started taking Tae Kwon Do classes from Marines on board his ship. When he separated from the Navy, he moved to Vermont and began taking classes at a new school opened by a retired special forces Soldier, where he eventually became an instructor.

"For my wife and my wedding gift, he gave us the keys to the school," Sergeant Linnehan said. "He gave me this little box and inside was a key and I thought this key looks so familiar. I couldn't figure it out. He said, 'I'm giving you the school.' I didn't know what that meant."

The mentor gave Linnehan the school, lock, stock and barrel including all the equipment, students and inventory.

The master sergeant said one of his favorite things is helping empowering people and letting them know they can accomplish things. He puts the same confidence into his students that his instructor put in him. His belief in his students' capabilities is partially why he joined the Air Force Reserves after a ten-year break in service.

"A gentleman came into my school one day, he had been an officer in the Air Force and he decided he missed it and wanted to go into the Reserves," Sergeant Linnehan said. "He joined the 439th [Aeromedical Staging Squadron] at Westover AFB. He came into my school one day and said, 'I'm really out of shape, I'm overweight and I would like to lose this weight because I want to try to become an officer.' After a year [of training], he got his commission and he's now a major and he encouraged me to come into the Reserves. He said, 'This unit needs medics would you consider doing it?' I said absolutely and here I am."

As an Air Force dependent, born at Clark Air Base, Philippines, becoming a Reservist wasn't a tough choice to make.

"I think I was born in the womb of the Air Force," Sergeant Linnehan said. "I don't know of too many [children of military parents] who don't stay in the military."

The example Sergeant Linnehan sets for his pupils has inspired a few of them to follow in his footsteps

"A couple of my students have joined the military after getting their black belts," Sergeant Linnehan said. "I have one student who is going to be an Air Force fighter pilot, one who joined the Marine Corps and drove the first tank over the bridge into Iraq and one who is now in the Army National Guard."

His service to his country and his community doesn't end as a Reservist, an instructor or an EMT. Sergeant Linnehan is the president of the Deerfield Valley Troop Support organization. The group started when a woman tied yellow ribbons around the town to show support for her son who was deployed.

Now the organization holds fundraisers, to raise money to send care packages to deployed servicemembers from the local area.

"My idea is not just to kick sand around your whole life, but to actually leave a footprint," Sergeant Linnehan said.

These three Airmen -- Chief Carter, Sergeant Combs and Sergeant Linnehan, don't wear an Air Force uniform full-time, but have fully committed to serving their country alongside their active-duty brothers and sisters, whenever and wherever needed.

Without impact and accomplishments of Reservists and Guardsmen as part of the Air Force total personnel package, it would be impossible for the Air Force to fly, fight and win the Global War on Terrorism.