SAN ANTONIO – When active duty military service members are deployed, it takes a toll on everyone in their lives.
- U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gary Shafer enlisted at 17 years old
- This is his sixth deployment
- Single father of 3 children
"Birthdays, first walks, talks... everything that a father gets to experience with his kids, I've missed it,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Gary Shafer.
Shafer enlisted in the Army when he was 17, and even after five tours of duty, he says deployments never get easier.
"You signed up for this so you get used to it,” Shafer said. “You know what you signed up for."
The single father of three children said soldiers typically get 30 days’ notice about a deployment. But, Shafer says the hardest part is packing months of bonding time into just a few weeks.
"It's like cramming everything at once into one big bottle, so you got to go to amusement parks, whatever, just as much time and memories as you can get and pictures taken,” Shafer said. "It's a bond you'll never experience in any other field in your life, when you deploy.”
Seventeen years later, Shafer has served under three different presidents and says he's learned to separate his personal opinions from his duty.
"If I'm going to deploy and the president asks me to go, I know he's going to send me with the best men and women,” Shafer said.
If you know someone being deployed, Shafer has this advice:
"Don't bring up politics to a soldier, he's just doing his job or she's just doing their job,” Shafer said. “Just be the biggest support, the biggest fan."