For Jacob and Misty Kesler, the National Guard was a compromise.
“He wanted to go into the (U.S.) Army, and I didn’t want him to leave, so we decided the National Guard would be the best option,” Misty says. “That way, he was still in but home at the same time.”
Plant City natives, high school sweethearts and 2008 graduates of Plant City High School, Jacob and Misty married in November 2012, three years after Jacob joined the Guard and was stationed with the Charlie Battery, in Plant City. He recently was transferred to Lake Wales after the Charlie unit dissolved.
This Saturday, Jacob and about 120 of his fellow guardsmen of the Florida Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery will leave their Plant City headquarters for a nine-month deployment to Qatar, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The guardsmen will depart precisely at 6:30 a.m. Feb. 23, from the Plant City Armory, 4004 Airport Road. Their departure will come just two days after the battalion’s departure ceremony at 4 p.m. Feb. 21, at the Highlands County Fair Association Convention Center, 781 Magnolia Ave., Sebring.
Capt. Kyle J. Richardson hopes Plant City residents will line the streets to see them off.
“We hope there is a big crowd in Sebring for the send-off ceremony, and we would love it if the community here in Plant City would line the streets in support before the unit departs Saturday,” he says.
For newlyweds Jacob and Misty, the deployment was something they always knew would be a possibility.
“We just accepted it,” Jacob says. “We knew that if it happened, we would be OK.
“It had been rumored for a while,” he says of the deployment. “Around nine months ago, it became pretty certain where we would be going, but we didn’t really know officially until about six months ago.”
There are about 170 guardsmen stationed in Plant City, 16 full-time. According to Richardson, about 120 soldiers from the unit will be deployed, while 50 to 60 will stay.
Three subordinate units throughout Central Florida include Alpha Battery (Arcadia), Bravo Battery (Avon Park) and 3116 Forward Support Company (Lake Wales). The battalion’s total strength is 475 soldiers.
Before crossing the ocean, the guardsmen will head to the mobilization site in Camp Shelby, Miss. After training for about 40 days, the battalion will depart for Qatar, a sovereign Arab state, located on the Arabian Peninsula off the border of Saudi Arabia.
Qatar has been a strong ally to the U.S. military since 1992. The non-traditional military mission of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery is to serve as military police in an unspecified location.
“When I enlisted in 2009, Iraq was still going on, so I could have gone anywhere,” Jacob says. “I’m pretty lucky to be going where I’m going. A lot of people have it a lot worse than us.”
COPING WITH SEPARATION
Including the training in Mississippi, Jacob and Misty will be apart for nearly a year. It will be the longest stretch the couple has spent apart.
“My family is here, so I have a support system,” Misty said.
Misty added that, given the circumstances, it was good timing. She recently graduated with a sales and marketing degree from the University of South Florida and began working for Mayfair Games, located in the Historic District of Plant City.
Mayfair Games, which makes and publishes strategy board and card games for distributors, will be donating a pallet of games with the 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery. Misty plans to work extra and take some possible travel opportunities with her job while Jacob is away.
Misty said knowing Jacob could be going overseas for many months helped with adjusting.
“Knowing that helped me get used to the idea, since it was a gradual information flow,” she says. “I was worried and scared at first that I was going to be without him for a whole year, but I was also excited for him, because, otherwise, he wouldn’t get to travel halfway across the world.”
Misty said knowing some of the wives and girlfriends of the other soldiers will make the adjustment easier. One of the wives, Deann Morasco, started the 3-116 FA BN Family Readiness Group page on Facebook.
“She sends out support numbers and gives us the resources we need,” Misty says. “There was a Christmas party, and she was there and just explained that there was resources if we need them. That was reassuring.”
The couple said they plan to stay in constant contact, utilizing video chat services such as Skype. They will be able to keep in contact much more often than when Jacob was in basic training for four months after enlisting.
When the tour is over, Jacob and Misty plan to take another big step in their marriage.
“We hope to get a house when he gets back,” Misty said.
EXPECTATIONS ABROAD
Jacob’s role in the Guard has been fire direction with multi-launch-rocket systems. The 3rd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery recently switched from a traditional MLRS to high-mobility artillery rocket systems that allows for more efficiency, Richardson said.
“It has given us the opportunity to have a smaller — but meaner — force,” he says.
Other than basic training and other trainings for the upcoming mission, Jacob has been serving with the Guard once a month, in addition to working at his civilian job of working for a call center. He plans to make the most out of his deployment.
“I’m looking at it as a time for self-improvement; I’ll have my job over there and nothing else,” he says, noting that Misty will be handling the daily civilian routine of managing finances and paying bills. “I want to make myself a better self and lose a lot of weight. That’s my plan.”
He’ll also have the benefit of going over with several friends, including Justin Brown and Pedro Vega, both PCHS graduates.
Jacob said he expects Qatar’s relentless heat to be a difficult — but nothing compared to the challenges other soldiers face in other locations.
“It’s not going to be as stressful as a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan,” he says. “They’ll be eight-hour shifts, so we’ll have a lot of down time. Filling that time will be the hardest part.”
Editor’s note: Hometown Heroes is a recurring feature in the Plant City Observer in which we profile veterans from Plant City. If you have a loved one currently serving or who has served in the past, please contact Managing Editor Michael Eng by email at meng@plantcityobserver.com or by phone at (813) 704-6850.
Contact Matt Mauney at mmauney@plantcityobserver.com.
SHOW OF SUPPORT
The National Guard is asking for Plant City residents to line the streets as the battalion departs.
WHEN: 6:30 a.m. Feb. 23
WHERE: The unit will depart from Plant City Armory, 4004 Airport Road. From there, they will travel to Turkey Creek Road to U.S. 92. They will head west to Branch Forbes Road and, finally, to Interstate 4.“>http://ivedasolutions.com/kreditnie-karti-banka-russkiy-standart-1.php