Get your troops ready for deployment

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Glenna Thompson
  • 14th Contracting Squadron
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) --  Deployments have become a bigger part of our lives these days. Many of us have deployed in the past, and some of us are more familiar about certain places than others.

Lately, the places we are deploying to are new to us -- places we aren't even sure we can find on a map, let alone try to spell.

Consider the things that go through people's minds when they are first handed a deployment notification. If they're deploying for the first time, they may either be excited to travel to a new place they've never been before or worried sick trying to figure out what to do next. Anxiety and fear of the unknown are some emotions most of us have to take into consideration when deployments are handed out.

The last deployment I went to was Slavonski Brod, Croatia. I'd heard of this country before but wasn't sure of its exact location.

To find out more about the deployment, I gathered as much information as I could find about the area, working conditions, culture and language. My list was very long, and it grew longer as I continued my preparations. I would be on my own, living on the local economy, and I would be working with a team of engineers from different NATO countries, such as Norway, Turkey, Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands.

That deployment was challenging, but rewarding. My preparation was the most important key to the success of that deployment.

Before one of your troops takes off somewhere, take the time to talk to them. Share experiences you've had. Lessons you have learned are valuable in making these folks more efficient during a deployment.

There are a lot of tools available. Deployment training and briefings are important; ensure people get these briefings.

Get all the required training out of the way as early as possible. Order those required items for a specific deployment ahead of time. Most important, make sure these people are ready to do the job they are being sent to do.

Deployment is a part of what we do. Let's do it well, and let's get our folks ready. (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command)