By Army National Guard Staff Sgt. PaulEvans Kentucky National GuardFORWARD OPERATING BASE PASAB,Afghanistan (10/1/12) - Air Force Staff Sgt. Jonathon Stribling didn’toriginally travel to southern Afghanistan as part of the Kentucky NationalGuard’s Agribusiness Development Team 4 just for himself.
Stribling, 24, of Louisville, Ky., amember of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Aerial Port Squadron, camebecause of a friend from his previous deployment to Afghanistan’s Bagram AirBase in 2011. That friend is fellow Airman and Louisville resident Staff Sgt.Austin McDonald.
“It was pretty funny, actually. Whenword of this deployment came up, me and him (McDonald) made a deal that if oneof us committed to it, then the other one would follow,” Stribling said. “Hecommitted and I followed.”
“Maj. (Walter) Leaumont came to our baseand sparked our interest,” Stribling said. Leaumont is ADT 4’s ExecutiveOfficer. “I basically told Sgt. McDonald, ‘if you want to do this, I’ll go withyou.’ He said he wanted to do it, we signed our names down, talked to Leaumont,and here we are.”
“Just packing, I knew how to pack forthis deployment,” Stribling said of what he learned from his first deploymentin 2011. “The first deployment, I packed everything and the kitchen sink.”
Stribling offered his thoughts aboutdeploying with ADT 4, a unit that is predominantly filled with Army NationalGuard members.
“I think being around NCOs in the Armywill make me a better NCO in the Air Force, just with discipline beingstricter, dress and appearance, just everything in general,” Stribling said.
“Being away from home for this long isdifferent,” Stribling said. “We only deploy four-month deployments (in the AirForce)…we’re here for a year. I think the time’s a challenge just being awayfrom family.
“I definitely miss my parents and mysisters, and I’m real proud to be here serving with the Army. My father was inthe Army for 14 years,” Stribling said. “It makes me feel pretty good that I’malso somewhat following in his footsteps.”
“My father, he’s kind of used to thisbeing gone. My mother…it’s going to hit any mother hard when their son goesoff,” Stribling said about how family is dealing with his deployment.
“My girlfriend, she’s not from amilitary family, so it’s hitting her pretty hard. It’s hard for her to copewithout me being there,” he added. “They’re making it, though.”
Stribling recalled a few things he foundsurprising on his trip to Afghanistan.
“Just the chaos you see. They (Afghans)drive crazy,” he observed. “That’s the best way to put it. It’s kind of aculture shock, really. Just trying to compare it to home life--it’s acompletely different world.”
“Back home in the States, you don’t seelittle six-year-old kids walking down the street carrying 30 pounds of waterjugs,” Stribling said. “But here, it’s a normal thing.”
“How many aerial port guys can say thatfor a year they were in Afghanistan going outside the wire doing combatoperations?” Stribling asked. “It’s a great experience.”
“The question is ‘what haven’t Ilearned?’ Weapons is not part of our skillset in the Air Force…and I’ve justbeen trained on several different weapons, been to a MRAP (mine resistantambush-protected vehicle) driving course for three weeks, it’s the kind ofstuff that I can’t get in the Air Force,” he said.
Spc. Joseph Bucaro, an Army Soldier fromLouisville, met Stribling during intial pre-mobilization training in December2011.
“He’s an easy-going guy, easy to talkto,” Bucaro said. “He’s a good listener. When you’re stressed out, he talks toyou.”
“Stribling’s a hard worker, he’s therewhen he needs to be, and he’s around when he doesn’t need to be, but he’salways there to learn and do his job,” Bucaro said. “All I can say is he’shelped out a lot of Soldiers with problems.”
“Relationships, I think they’re whatdrive us,” Stribling said. “As far as our security platoon, we’re like brothersin our platoon. We’d do anything for any one of us. I think that’s what keepsus going.”
Since arriving in Afghanistan inFebruary 2012, unfortunate circumstances sent some of ADT 4’s members’ home.Among them was Army Sgt. David Spry of Winchester, Ky., who went home a fewweeks after a knee injury while Stribling was at home on leave.
“Losing Sgt. Spry was hard. He was areal good buddy of mine. Like I said, we’re brothers,” Stribling said.
“But he’s been keeping in contact withus on Facebook … It kind of eases us a little bit to know he’s doing all right,that he’s getting the treatment he needs,” Stribling said.
Overall, Stribling had a positiverecollection of his second Afghan deployment. However, he said he plans ontaking time off deployments to attend the University of Louisville afterwards.
“I don’t regret a minute of it,”Stribling said. “Certain areas, I feel like we’re progressing. I don’t feel likewe’re wasting our time, so that’s a good thing.”
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