Alix Bemis

Families in Ponderosa have been affected differently Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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th the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. For Alex Bemis, 12, and her family, this has been a war of adjusting.  Her dad is a Department of Defense contractor (DoD).  The DoD is a federal department that is in charge of coordinating, and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the military.
“My dad has been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan since I was about five. He leaves for about three months, then returns for about three weeks,” said Bemis. This routine that her father goes through being at home for three weeks at a time is usual for the DoD. Other branches of the military vary with their timing over seas.
Her family at first had a hard time adjusting, but personally, she says, “It was hard adjusting to the change at the beginning, but no, it’s not that bad because I get to talk to my dad every once in a while, and I get to see him every three months.”
One positive that comes from Bemis’s father being in the DOD is that they really don’t move a lot. Other branches of the military have to move every five to ten years.
When asked if Bemis would ever follow in her fathers’ footsteps, she said “I wouldn’t follow in my dads footsteps. If anything, I would work overseas, just out of college just to save money, but nothing else. My dad wants me to be in the DoD like him though.”

Sam Schiber

Mustang Express: Who in your family is in the military? What branch?
Sam Scheiber: My older brother Michael is the Army intelligence.
ME: When, or was your brother’s last deployment?
SS: He is over there now. He left mid-July and will return mid-January. He serves in six month deployments.
ME: How does it affect your family? How does it affect you personally?
SS: This is hard for our family because we are missing a person in our family. Also, my brother Michael is engaged, so it is a lot harder for his fiancée. Personally its hard because me and my older brother are really close. We talk about everything, and him not being here sucks.
ME: How many times has he been deployed since the war started?
SS: Three times. His first deployment was for 13 months, then his second was for six months and now his third that he is in right now will be for six months.
ME: Does your brother have to move around often as a result of being in the military?
SS: No, because he is stationed in Colorado Springs, so when he is on leave he just comes home.
ME: Do you see yourself following in his footsteps? Why/Why not?
SS: No, because personally, I think the Army is screwing up his life. He can’t see his family, or even his fiancée on a daily basis.
ME: Do you talk to your brother a lot when he is deployed? About what?
SS: Yes, we talk a lot, but only about surface stuff, we don’t go into much detail because first, he isn’t allowed to, and second, because it’s all top difficult to hear exactly what he goes through on a daily basis.