Chapter 5

For some reason, I'm in a military life mode. LOL Here's another memory that recently came to mind.

We had just returned to the US after our first Germany tour. It was July of 1990, and we took thirty days leave to visit with family.

We were at my parents' house and at the end of our leave, preparing for our next duty station, Fort Meade, MD. My husband, Brian, was in the basement working out. I heard him yell numerous profanities. I went downstairs to see what had happened. About 100,000 Iraqi troops had invaded Kuwait.

A little surprised at his outburst, What does this have to do with us? They're on the other side of the world. He went on to explain in detail that we'd probably go to war. To be honest, I felt Brian was overreacting.

The middle of August we arrived at Fort Meade, MD. Once on the military post, Brian reported to his unit and then we went to housing. The housing list was about six months long. Our next stop was the military motel, 'the guest house'. With military orders in hand, Brian secured us a room. I need to point out that Steven was not born yet. Greg, twelve years old, Jeff, ten years old, and Andrew, now four years old. The significance is, have you ever been contained to a two-bed motel room with three rambunctious boys. Probably not. The following day, Brian reported for duty. I found a playground within walking distance.

This continued for a little over a month. We searched for apartments on the economy, the surrounding towns, but found nothing available in our price range. Pretty sure we were stuck in this motel until we moved up on the housing list, which to be honest, I checked daily.

Then it got worse. Brian came home and announced, his unit was deploying to Saudi Arabia. Maybe some good news, his commanding officer was working with Housing trying to get us into housing before they deployed. Bad news, it didn't work.

While still in the guest house, Brian deployed to Saudi Arabia October 6, 1990. We remained in the guest house. A little good news. In September, I had a job interview for an assistance director of one of the Army's largest daycare centers and got the job. School had started, and Andrew would be able to go to the daycare with me.

Our life continued with the older boys going to school, Andrew in daycare, me working, and Brian now, deployed. We got into a routine. Of course, still in the guest house.

A few weeks after Brian had deployed, I got a call from housing. We were moved up on the housing list and now secured a three-bedroom house. Thank you, God. Bad news, I, once again had to contact the moving company and move our furniture into the house by myself. Got to love the military. It's character building, right?"

Okay, I got this. I can do it and did. We are now in a spacious three-bedroom house with a yard and a kitchen. GREAT!!

Communication with Brian was almost non-existent. His unit, 519th MP Battalion, was on the move. Phone calls only happened when they were in an area where they could use the phone and then the soldiers had to wait in long lines and the calls were timed so all soldiers could call home. Normally, I received a call every six weeks, but often it was longer.

Things continued like this for about a month, then the unthinkable happened. I went to get Brian's LES, Leave and Earnings Statement. It stated, 'no pay due'. What?? I called Brian's unit. They leave people behind who are supposed to assist the families. They couldn't help but asked me if Brian had given me power of attorney to go to finance and get it 'squared away'.

Brian had given me a very detailed and inclusive power of attorney. He thought every angle had been covered. Matter of fact, the unit lawyer who helped the soldiers write these questioned him on giving me that much power. He'd seen soldiers who had been taken advantage of by spouses left behind.

At finance I explained the problem in detail and proudly showed the lady my extensive power of attorney.

She kindly said, "Sorry, ma'am. This power of attorney doesn't specifically say 'finance'. She handed back the papers.

I searched through the papers and found the paragraph that said, I had the authority to handle all financial issues that came up. Mentioning this was a financial issue.

She said, "Ma'am, it doesn't state you any authority over your husband's LES."

"I don't want to make any changes to it. I want to address the 'no pay due' problem."

"That's easy. Your husband came into this office and took out the money in cash."

"Ma'am, my husband is in Saudi Arabia. Are you telling me he flew in, came into your office, without stopping to see his family, withdrew the money, and flew back to Saudi? That's impossible. My husband wouldn't do that. Besides what did my husband buy, a camel?"

"You never know what these young soldiers will do."

"My husband is not a young soldier. We have three children."

"Ma'am, I have a paper trail."

"I'd like to see this paper trail."

"You can't. You don't have the correct power of attorney." She hesitated. "Next?"

I left frustrated, but not defeated. My next plan was to contact our congressman, Dick Durbin. I did and things got resolved. Although I did get a phone call from my husband asking if I really contacted the congressman. I guess when soldiers are deployed news does make it to them, when the Army decides it's necessary and they can get phone privileges.