Serving through the season: Senior Airman Mark Kreul

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Dan Heaton
  • Arizona National Guard Public Affairs
YUMA, Ariz. (AFPN) --  Senior Airman Mark Kreul is hoping his Christmas this year is a lot like his Thanksgiving was.

"There are a lot of awesome people around here; people you don't even know. They just open their arms for you on the holiday," Airman Kreul said.

He is a member of the South Dakota Air National Guard's 114th Fighter Wing deployed to Yuma, Ariz., this holiday season as part of Operation Jump Start, a mission directed by President Bush in which the National Guard is supporting the U.S. Border Patrol's efforts to tighten security along the nation's southern border. Airman Kreul arrived in Yuma in November for a six-month deployment -- his first operational deployment since joining the Air National Guard in 2004.

At his home station, at Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls, S.D., he is an intelligence analyst for the 114th FW. While deployed, he is working with Task Force Yuma as an intelligence analyst at the Border Patrol's Yuma Sector Headquarters. The data he helps to compile supports both National Guard and Border Patrol operations along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We look at what is happening and what could happen," he explained. "The information we compile goes all the way up to Washington, D.C., so it's an important part of the mission."

Like Airmen in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ecuador, South Korea, other world hot spots and across the nation during the holiday season, Airman Kreul is answering the call to duty this holiday season. Airmen are highly trained, skilled and valued members of the interdependent force fighting the war on terror.

The intelligence analyst, who lives in Chester, S.D., graduated from Chester Area High School in 2003. Service in the Air National Guard is helping to finance his education. When not deployed, he's an electrical engineering student at South Dakota State University.

Back home in Chester, Airman Kreul said family members typically come in from around the country to celebrate Christmas. He said he's particularly going to miss seeing his 2-year-old niece, Katrina, this year.

"She's really special to me," he said

While he is going to miss out on that gathering this year, Airman Kreul is comforted by the fact that he has made new friends among the National Guard Airmen and Soldiers working in Yuma.

"At Thanksgiving time, I had so many offers of people inviting me to dinner. It really makes you feel good," he said. "I think Christmas will be the same way."

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