Tulsa World: Stillwater ceremony held for deploying soldiers

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Stillwater ceremony held for deploying soldiers
Unit will teach Afghanis farming techniques

By AMANDA O’TOOLE World Correspondent
Published: 10/25/2009 9:17 PM
Last Modified: 10/27/2009 3:01 PM

Correction
This story originally contained incorrect information about a soldier's rank and the spelling of his daughter's name. The story has been corrected.

STILLWATER — Staff Sgt. Justin Stone and his family spent Saturday night celebrating Thanksgiving, complete with turkey, traditional fixings and peach pie.

The meal was a way for Stone to spend time with family and friends while he prepares for his third deployment overseas since 2002. Stone, who joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard out of high school, will help provide security for the 1-45th Agri-Business Development Team.

Hundreds of people attended a departure ceremony Sunday for about 60 soldiers in the unit.

They will be stationed in Paktya province, Afghanistan, with a mission to improve the country’s agriculture.

The soldiers received training from Oklahoma State University and other institutions in subjects such as soil sampling, beekeeping and veterinary medicine. They will help educate Afghanis in agriculture including animal husbandry, agronomy, pest management, finance and forestry.

The unit will replace a similar team from the Tennessee Army National Guard.

The misson is scheduled to last nearly a year. That means Stone will miss major holidays — and the birth of his second child.

Stone’s wife, Staci Stone, is about nine weeks pregnant and is concerned that her daughter, Presleigh, 1, will forget who her father is.

At Sunday’s ceremony, Presleigh wore a hand-made shirt that read, “My daddy is a soldier and my hero.” She shouted “Papa” when she saw a picture of Stone projected on a large screen.

“Emotionally, it’s going to be a different world,” Stone said of this deployment, his first as a father. But he said he was looking forward to being part of a unique project.

“We’re making history,” he said.

Maj. General Myles Deering, Oklahoma’s adjutant general, noted the group’s personal backgrounds and passion for agriculture. Many of its soldiers held professions or had hobbies in farming or other agriculture avenues.

“It brings out the essence of being a citizen soldier,” he said.

Members of the unit will be able to get access to professors and graduate assistants in OSU’s agriculture department while overseas.

Some will also be eligible to earn a master’s degree in international agriculture through OSU at the end of their rotation.

Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Altebaumer grew up on a self-sustaining farm, which gave her experience with poultry. She said she was going to be excited to work with Afghani women raising chickens and hens and vegetables.

“I’m hoping to change things,” she said, explaining that she feels she can relate to women in the Afghan culture because she’s Native American.

“I’m not going over there in a soldier frame of mind, though it’s always present,” she said. “My plan is to befriend them and teach them from there.”

She and her husband, Lt. Col. John Altebaumer, have been mentally preparing for a nearly two-year separation.

The officer is expected to deploy with the unit relieving the 1-45th Agri-Business Team, including his wife, next fall.

He said the relief unit he will oversee was about 90 percent formed and would begin training sometime soon.

He and his wife will be able to spend a few weeks together in Afghanistan before Elizabeth Altebaumer will return home to care for their six children, three each from previous marriages.

“We’re past the psyching-ourselves-up part,” he said.

The couple plan to relax with their family until the unit has to report to Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

“We just have to say a lot of prayers and have a lot of faith,” John Altebaumer said. “It’s a mission, and this is what we do for a living.”

By AMANDA O’TOOLE World Correspondent

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "State unit leaves to start agriculture mission," which was published on 10/26/2009. So far, 16 comments have been made.