thedrifter
04-14-08, 07:41 AM
Police chief, stepson get Iraq orders
By By Blythe Terrell, Steamboat Pilot & Today
Monday, April 14, 2008
Hayden Police Chief Ray Birch will head back to Iraq this summer.
The Air Force Reservist said his security forces unit is likely to be mobilized by July 1 and in the country in August.
This will be the third time Birch's squadron has deployed since the Sept. 11 attacks, and it will be its second tour in Iraq.
This time, Birch's stepson, Andrew Statz, will be in Iraq, too. The Naval Reserve corpsman will serve his first Iraq tour starting in August. Statz is heading in with a Marine Corps unit.
His uncle is also in Iraq, Statz said.
"It's interesting because we're all in different parts" of the military, he said. Birch "is in the Air Force, my uncle is in the Army, and I'm going to be with the Marines."
Statz, 21, graduated from Hayden High School in 2005. Birch said he told his stepson, who volunteered for deployment, not to be in a hurry to go overseas.
But, Birch said, Statz "seemed pretty eager" to go.
Marlene Birch said she was not thrilled that her husband and son would be in Iraq at the same time but understands they are doing the right thing.
"They want to go," she said. "I'd rather have people who want to be there than those who are apprehensive. I'm extremely proud of both of them."
Birch said the Hayden Police Department would be in good hands during his six- to seven- month absence.
"The officers here have been here an average of 10 years. . . . (They are) very capable of taking over while I'm gone."
Birch, who served in the Marine Corps, has been with the Air Force Reserve since 2001 and is now a master sergeant.
Ellie
By By Blythe Terrell, Steamboat Pilot & Today
Monday, April 14, 2008
Hayden Police Chief Ray Birch will head back to Iraq this summer.
The Air Force Reservist said his security forces unit is likely to be mobilized by July 1 and in the country in August.
This will be the third time Birch's squadron has deployed since the Sept. 11 attacks, and it will be its second tour in Iraq.
This time, Birch's stepson, Andrew Statz, will be in Iraq, too. The Naval Reserve corpsman will serve his first Iraq tour starting in August. Statz is heading in with a Marine Corps unit.
His uncle is also in Iraq, Statz said.
"It's interesting because we're all in different parts" of the military, he said. Birch "is in the Air Force, my uncle is in the Army, and I'm going to be with the Marines."
Statz, 21, graduated from Hayden High School in 2005. Birch said he told his stepson, who volunteered for deployment, not to be in a hurry to go overseas.
But, Birch said, Statz "seemed pretty eager" to go.
Marlene Birch said she was not thrilled that her husband and son would be in Iraq at the same time but understands they are doing the right thing.
"They want to go," she said. "I'd rather have people who want to be there than those who are apprehensive. I'm extremely proud of both of them."
Birch said the Hayden Police Department would be in good hands during his six- to seven- month absence.
"The officers here have been here an average of 10 years. . . . (They are) very capable of taking over while I'm gone."
Birch, who served in the Marine Corps, has been with the Air Force Reserve since 2001 and is now a master sergeant.
Ellie