My husband has a friend at work that is in "the guard". About a month ago he was put on alert. Yesterday my husband said that they are going to be activated on January 20th, or somewhere around there.

Does activation mean that they are leaving? Or is that deployed?

All of the terms are confusion to me. I know this guy has his first baby due in March. It looks like he will probably be missing that.

By Boxzgrl on Thursday, December 9, 2004 - 06:20 pm:

I believe activating them does mean on Jan. 20th they will be considered "activated" and will probably do some extensive training to prepare to be sent wherever they are needed.

There are other military wives here so maybe they'll know more than me. Thats just what I assume.

By Amy~moderator on Thursday, December 9, 2004 - 07:34 pm:

My dh, who is active duty army, said that they will train first (probably where we are at Fort Polk, La) for about 3 months and then will deploy to Iraq most likely. That sure is terrible that he will miss the birth of his first child! I hate to say it though, but that is an ordinary part of military life - as harsh as that sounds, it is true as I'm sure others can testify. Boxzgirl above had her first child while her dh was deployed. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

By Breann on Thursday, December 9, 2004 - 07:48 pm:

Thanks for the clarification
This will be their 2nd call out since this "war" started. They were scheduled to go to Iraq once before and ended up just spending 6 months doing some kind of training and then coming home.

I feel so bad that he will most likely miss the birth of his first baby.

I guess all of this is known when they sign up though. They don't just sign up for the uniform. I just feel bad for his wife. She is a sweet girl.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, December 9, 2004 - 08:17 pm:

My brother in law is leaving for Iraq in January and they told him that he can come back for 3 weeks if his wife is having a baby. They definitely need to ask. (My BIL is in the reserves.)
But, if they are "active" in Jan, usually they have at least 3 mo training, if they hadn't had it already, and should be home in March anyway.

By Breann on Friday, December 10, 2004 - 10:39 am:

Just an update. My husband talked some more to this guy yesterday. He is leaving on the 20th of January for a month of training and then they will go directly to Iraq from there.

He will get to come home for 2 weeks for the birth of his baby! I'm so happy for them.