School district had an amazing week!

I must admit I felt a bit anxious when I started work on this week’s edition of the Mountain Home News. With so many things that happened in town the previous week, I simply wondered if we would end up dealing with a slow news week in which I had to dig through various news resources to find something… anything… that felt newsworthy.

That’s when I received notification regarding an e-mail sent to my office from Robynn Schipani, the principal at Stephensen Elementary School. I was among the first in this community to learn the school became Idaho’s first Purple Star School. That title goes to schools whose teachers and staff members go the extra mile to help the students of military families make easier, more successful transitions when they move into our community as well as when their families prepare to leave here for their next duty assignment.

The fact the Mountain Home School District was also under consideration to receive more than $6 million in federal funding to build a new, larger school on Mountain Home Air Force Base was an added bonus.

Having served in the Air Force over the course of 25 years, I personally connect with the challenges military families in the Mountain Home community face on a frequent basis. After my wife and I welcomed our first daughter into the world in 1991, we started to see firsthand the challenges these families face when it comes to moving from one base to the next.

The first of these challenges happened in 1994 when I earned my promotion to staff sergeant and received orders to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo. Because my family and I lived on base when those orders first arrived, I figured we’d simply need to fill out the paperwork to live in the base housing area at our new assignment.

The fact there was a two-year waiting list to live in that base housing area was something I hadn’t expected. Instead, I ended up having to drive to Colorado Springs to find a place where my family could live.

The fact that the housing market there was very similar to what we’re dealing with today in terms of high costs and limited access to homes and apartments represented another problem my family and I struggled to overcome. Luckily, I finally found a place for us to live.

However, my wife and I faced another challenge since we were expecting the birth of our second child. That made that apartment a bit too small for our growing family, so I ended up having to go through all of the paperwork to qualify for a home mortgage to buy our first home.

With plenty of room for my family to live and play, I figured my life in the military would finally allow me time to simply relax and enjoy my time as a newspaper consultant and the editor of Air Force Space Command’s monthly magazine.

However, just several months after we moved into that home, my family faced one of its greatest obstacles when I received orders for my next duty station… in Japan. It represented the first time I would ever serve overseas (no, my time in Alaska didn’t officially count as an overseas assignment, but it sure seemed that way).

Along with having to sell our home, we ended up needing to sell some of the extra clothing, furniture and appliances we owned since the Air Force had restrictions on how much we could pack up and ship to our new base.

Oh, and I forgot to mention my wife and I found out our third child was on her way just days before we traveled overseas. That really made things interesting during those first few months.

While I wish our story was something unique, it’s not. We have military families in our community who deal with similar challenges every day. It underscores the reason why these families need the support that helped the staff at Stephensen Elementary School earn that prestigious title.

The other thing military families often deal with involve the numerous times those in uniform need to deploy overseas in support of ongoing military operations in places like the Middle East. It’s something that took center stage following the terrorist attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

After serving time in Saudi Arabia at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I ended up having to return to the Middle East several years later when I deployed to Baghdad as part of an ongoing mission to eliminate the numerous militant, extremist and terrorist groups that sought to tear that nation apart. That deployment represented one of the hardest moments in my life, because I honestly didn’t know if I would come home safe and sound or if I ended up coming home in a flag-covered coffin.

During those six months, I made it a point to stay in contact with my family via e-mail with very few times where I could actually call and speak to them. The one thing I truly missed was being able to see my wife and children and hug them every day. Again, it’s something those in uniform also miss every time they end up going on a deployment.

Despite the potential dangers I possibly faced until my deployment ended, I feel a sense of relief that not once did I ever need to draw a weapon to defend myself or fight enemy forces that attacked our base. For that, I feel thankful.

However, I need to mention this isn’t always the case with others in the U.S. military. Along with having to bear the news when someone they knew lost their lives during combat missions, others came home bearing the physical and mental wounds associated with having to fight enemy forces. In many cases, they carry those wounds for the rest of their lives.

Shortly after I returned from Baghdad, my wife and I agreed it was time for me to retire. It’s hard to believe that 15 years have gone by since I finished my 25-year Air Force career. However, the one thing I won’t forget are the sacrifices I made to serve this nation. It meant having to be away from my family so often that I wonder if it changed the way my children viewed me in terms of being their father.

It’s something I wonder if others serving this nation have dealt with as well. This represents one of the many reasons why I feel so proud that Stephensen Elementary School earned that Purple Star Award. It shows how much these teachers and staff members work to provide the support their students need in dealing with the various challenges their parents in uniform face every day.

As a proud, military community, we do a lot to support those stationed at the Air Force base. These airmen and their families deserve our support every day.

– Brian S. Orban