At Ease - Wisconsin National Guard Department of Military Affairs

Blood ties
and service stripes
Deployment is a family affair
By Sgt. Carmen Gibson
107th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
Florida National Guard
Soldiers depend on them, protect them, and rely
on their protection in return; in the military environment,
strangers become battle buddies. For some members
of the Wisconsin National Guard, however, their family
members — the people they have known their whole lives
— will stand beside them in combat.
New Richmond natives Bruce and Victor Wozniak
are venturing off on a father-son trip of a rare sort, as the
two Guardsmen deploy with their unit — Bravo Company,
1st Battalion, 128th Infantry of the 32nd Infantry Brigade
Combat Team — for a year-long deployment to Iraq.
Pfc. Victor Wozniak could have opted to continue with
his studies at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls, but
instead volunteered to deploy with his unit. Victor’s father,
Staff Sgt. Bruce Wozniak, a Wisconsin State Trooper,
recently returned home from a Guard deployment to Iraq
but signed up to go back with his son’s unit.
“I’m excited to go over with my dad,” said Victor
Wozniak. “It will be nice to have a little bit of home while
I’m there.”
Staff Sgt. Barbara Boehm has proudly served in the
Wisconsin Guard for the past 19 years and now gets
to share the deployment experience with her son and
daughter, both of whom have chosen to follow in her
footsteps.
“They have exceeded my expectations,” Barbara said
of her two children, “and that is a good feeling.”
Barbara and her daughter, Sgt. Natasha Boehm,
will deploy as members of the 132nd Brigade Support
Battalion; and Barbara’s son, 1st Lt. Nathan R. Boehm, will
deploy with the 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry.
This is the second deployment for both children.
Nathan deployed to Kuwait around the same time Natasha
deployed to Afghanistan. For Barbara, this is the first
combat deployment in almost 20 years of Guard service.
Also deploying with the 32nd Brigade are two sets
of identical twins, Spcs. Kelly and Kyle Hendrickson,
and Sgts. Sara and Heidi Peronto, all serving as motor
transport operators for Company A, 132nd Brigade
Support Battalion, of Janesville.
“The deployment will be much easier since the unit
is going to keep us together,” said Kyle, intentionally
distinguished from his brother by a mustache and a pair of
glasses.
The 23-year-old brothers from Pardeeville were
activated together for hurricane Katrina relief in 2005,
providing mobile security for medical personnel in
Louisiana. While the mission lasted three weeks, it helped
them test their working relationship.
Sara and Heidi, of Appleton, have already perfected
the art of serving together. The pair volunteered for deployment in 2006,
for a 15-month tour in Taji, Iraq. Just like the Hendrickson siblings, the
Perontos look forward to their second deployment with excitement and
confidence, knowing that they will be serving together.
The 32nd IBCT is training at Camp Blanding, Fla., in preparation for
its upcoming deployment to Iraq. n
Sgt. Natasha Boehm, left, Lt. Nathan Boehm, center, and Staff Sgt. Barbara
Boehm take time out for a family photo. The three were training at Camp
Blanding, Fla., in preparation for deployment to Iraq with the 32nd Infantry
Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Baltz
The 132nd Brigade Support Battalion’s two sets of identical twins — Spcs.
Kelly and Kyle Hendrickson and Sgts. Sara and Heidi Peronto — flank their
battalion commander, Lt. Col. Leah Moore. Photo by Sgt. Carmen Gibson, 107th Mobile
Public Affairs Detachment
26 at ease