Back home from a different mission Posted On: Tuesday, Oct. 27 2009 04:27 AM By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald

WEST FORT HOOD – The last time 1st Sgt. Jeff Hubbard came home from a deployment, second- and third-degree burns covered 42 percent of his body.

He was serving with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in 2005 in Iraq when a car bomb detonated near his Humvee. Doctors said he'd never walk again. They said he'd never put on a helmet or a flak jacket again. They were wrong. Hubbard returned to Fort Hood Monday with the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade's 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

The battalion's more than 600 soldiers spent the last year in Korea with the 8th U.S. Army, providing its leaders with a trained and capable force that could deploy if needed, said its commander, Lt. Col. William Brooks.

The soldiers began trickling back to Central Texas in September. Monday was the last of the battalion's flights to return.

The Army calls this kind of deployment a temporary change of station. It isn't the kind of deployment to which most Fort Hood soldiers and their families are accustomed, but still, it has its challenges and hardships, said Hubbard's wife, Isabel.

While the air defense artillery families were entitled to some of the same Army programs and benefits, those with soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan had priority, Isabel said. People would hear that her husband was deployed to Korea and dismiss it.

Though Korea is not declared a combat zone, its soldiers had plenty to worry about during the deployment. North Korea's military fired nine to 10 missiles and tested a nuclear weapon during the battalion's time there, Brooks said.

The deployment was financially hard on some families because they had to maintain two households: one back at home and another for their soldiers in Korea. This deployment didn't come with hazard pay or some of the other added pay soldiers get in Afghanistan or Iraq, Isabel said.

Separation, which many say is the most difficult part about a deployment, was the same.

"A deployment is a deployment, no matter where your soldier is sent," Isabel said.

The daily stresses and worries were there – everything from bills to single parenthood.

"You're missing a family member so your family is incomplete," Isabel said.

Still, she didn't hesitate when time came for her husband of 23 years to deploy.

First Sgt. Jeff Hubbard walked toward the West Fort Hood Gym with his soldiers Monday. Isabel handed him a cavalry Stetson hat with the 3rd Armored Cavalry insignia on it as he passed her. He had a slight limp that was hard to detect – something one wouldn't notice unless they were watching carefully.

When Hubbard stood at attention, the Stetson sat against his side. When he stood at parade rest, it pressed against his back.

Isabel understood that deploying and being a noncommissioned officer was her husband's job. After all, it's why he endured painful medical treatments and rehabilitation after that bomb blast. Isabel said it's why they went through the last two years.

"I'm so proud of him," she said.

Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.