Naval Air Station Whidbey Island recognized the contributions of its individual augmentees (IAs) and Global War on Terror Support Assignments (GSAs) at an IA/GSA appreciation event held at the Nor’Wester Activity Center, Oct. 15. The semi-annual NAS Whidbey Island Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) event is held each April and September to honor those who have gone on an IA or GSA and allowed for those preparing to depart the chance to network and receive responses to unanswered questions from the people who have experienced the deployments first-hand.

“First of all, I want to tell those of you that have been, that I’m honored to be in your company and your country is proud, so thank you. We asked you to do something harder than you signed on to do, and I’m really proud of you,” said Capt. Gerral David, NAS Whidbey Island commanding officer.

“What you’re doing cannot be over sold; it’s huge. It’s one of the biggest changes that we’ve seen in the Navy, being able to drop what you’re doing with your command, pick up with another service, go as an individual and serve with other units is a huge thing,” added Dave Thomason, education services facilitator with the FFSC.

Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Nelson Jeck, of Electronic Attack Squadron 130, from Columbus, Ohio, who is preparing for an IA deployment to Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was thankful for the opportunity to interact with Capt. James Thralls, Naval Hospital Oak Harbor commanding officer, who recently returned from 18 months in Guantanamo.
“I like it a lot because it brings us together and gets us to realize who has been there before and any type of questions I had (Thralls) answered top-notch,” said Jeck. “If it wasn’t for this, I would not have had any of my questions answered until I got there. I feel 100 percent more prepared than I did two hours ago.”

“That’s part of what this network is; it’s not just about service members. It’s about people that are left behind. It’s not like a normal Navy deployment where you have a spouses club taking care of you, so I’m happy that you’re providing this service,” said David.

For Dawn Laumb, wife of Chief Aviation Electronics Technician (AW) Martin Laumb, of Fleet Readiness Center Northwest, who is preparing to return from a 12-month IA deployment to Iraq, her husband’s deployment would’ve have been far more difficult without the IA spouse support group and the programs offered by FFSC.
“My husband has made six other deployments on three different aircraft carriers, but this was different. This was more unnerving, but Kelly (Gilman) and the people that work here made a big difference.
“When these meetings come up once a month, I highly recommend you go. It’s going to save your soul. With all the deployments my husband’s made, I’ve never had this sense of family.”