There are Individual Augmentee tales to tell, stories to share and duties to describe, as well as honoring those doing the telling, sharing and describing.
That is exactly what took place on Nov. 15, at Naval Base Kitsap Bangor Chapel as Navy Region Northwest Fleet and Family Support Center hosted the “Heroes Welcome” recognition ceremony.
The annual event has been tailored specifically for all active duty and activated reservist men and women who have deployed as an Individual Augmentee (IA).
An IA is a U.S military member assigned to a unit, battalion or company that can be used to fill shortages or can be used when an individual with specialized knowledge or skill sets is required.
Each IA will be honored who has served in that capacity, including one activated reservist officer who will share his challenges of being mobilized and the associated impact on career and family, and also touch upon his duty and accomplishments while deployed.
In his civilian job as an American Family Insurance agent, Barry Doll understands giving people peace of mind by providing dependable protection for their personal auto, home, business, and life needs.
As a lieutenant of the Supply Corps in the Navy Reserve working overseas as a logistical officer, Doll found himself providing another form of peace of mind that was based on professional safety and security needs.
Assigned to Combined Special Operations Force Task Force 10 at Camp Vose, Kabul, Afghanistan, Doll took on the task of becoming a contracting officer to handle the need of constructing seven forward operating bases, all within a 200-mile radius of Kabul.
It was his duty to ensure that the fortified Special Forces bases were built to specifications for the Task Force members, not only U.S. military personal but also soldiers from other coalition nations such as Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Norway, Romania and Slovakia.
“Knowing that what I was doing was helping keep our SPECOPS force personnel safe was a gratifying feeling, Most of the time they were out running to Harm’s Way. But in my way, I did help them be safe during down time back at one of the bases,” said Doll.
For Doll, deploying as a reservist was a number of firsts for him; he went to a landlocked, battle scarred land that was still in the midst of the ongoing deadly turmoil after three decades of war; he went as an officer; he went as an Individual Augmentee; and he went from the well-respected local insurance business he and his wife, Debbie, were successfully managing to being thrust into the uncertainty.
He was asked to basically start up a vital, needed, contracting department to take care of all the coordination and facilitation of constructing needed bases, not to mention negotiating and navigating the with additional caveats attached, such as utilizing local Afghan companies for the work needed.
Doll had spent a decade in the Navy earlier in his career. The North Dakota native was Sailor of the Year at Naval Hospital Bremerton in 1998 as a Culinary Specialist First Class. He had also logged a Western Pacific deployment on the fast combat support ship, USS Sacramento.
“So we knew what a six month WESTPAC was about,” said Debbie, “but this one-year IA was completely different that anything we had ever done. It was really different this time around.
One of the differences Debbie noticed almost immediately was that when Barry was assigned to the Sacramento, there was a ship’s wives club that she could go to. But as the spouse of a
Reservist heading on an IA deployment, there was no one here that was going through what she was; having a spouse deployed, a business to still run, a home to manage and three teenagers to supervise.
“For our children — Elizabeth, Christian Joseph — it was really the first time that their dad was gone and there was some dynamics at play there,” recalled Debbie. “We figured out how to use Skype and Facebook and that helped keep the lines of communication open.”
But even with the advent of social media and electronic mail replacing the old fashion “snail mail” method of staying in touch with home, the Dolls discovered that using new technology could also create a few new issues. Barry tried to still engage in managing the company and engage in his role as father, but he found at times he didn’t have the full picture to adequately provide as much support as he anticipated.
“One of the manager challenges I found was learning to let go from afar. Debbie knows the business and she was the one still at home. Personally I had anxiety departing and going to a war zone, but I also felt very capable with her and the staff at our business. It might not grow but at least it will maintain. If I didn’t have Debbie, I would have had a lot more anxiety leaving,” explained Barry.
Barry is one of the Navy’s Ready Reserves 109,738 members, which currently has 4,491 mobilized as of the middle of October. Many of those are currently down range in some capacity in Afghanistan. Most have left their civilian job, position or career to wear the cloth of their nation.
Deployments tend to be regularly scheduled for active duty Sailors with a ship, submarine or
squadron. They embark, deploy and return as a team. An IA is just that, a singular, isolated individual filling a needed billet with another group, far afield. The camaraderie that exists with a whole unit or command deploying isn’t quite there for an IA.
Barry notes that there was approximately 30 days to get his affairs in order, get necessary qualifications, and get all squared away.
“When we’re active duty, you’re in that mode. But when you have a civilian career, there’s just a lot more to prepare and get ready for, not only to go on deployment, but also with the family and job at home,” he said.
Debbie attests that by attending the Heroes’ Welcome last year, there was comfort knowing others were in her same position or had been there, in being separated and basically without a support group.
“But I didn’t develop any relationships there,” she said, adding that with no family in the area, and no real connection to the active duty military community, the key for her was being a member of her surrounding, overlapping communities from work, from their church and from their home.
Her primary support group was made up of their church as well as being active with community-affiliated organizations. “The Bremerton VFW and Port Orchard and Silverdale Chambers (of Commerce) were all very supportive,” she said.
With Debbie handling the home front, Barry’s assignment to the SPECOP task force as a Navy supply officer in a joint command brought not just a new assignment, but an entirely different work environment.
“I was told this is what we need, we don’t know how to go about it, so go ahead and do it,” explained Barry as he was told he would become the contracting officer.
He immediately took background educational contracting courses on line to reinforce some snippet of training he already had from Navy Supply Corps School. That training was augmented by on-the-job experience and a ‘learn-as-you-go’ regimen.
Doll was responsible for ensuring that force protection walls, gates, bunkers for personnel and ammunition; tactical operations center, billets, latrines, showers, gymnasiums, medical and dental facilities, along with coordinating other base needs such as fuel stowage and usage, waste product setup and pickup, portable water requirements, garbage collection and cleaning duties were all in place.
“There was really no one to share on how to do this job. The challenge was to do it right. There was no instructional guidance yet established bur we made it and hopefully have provided a path of instruction for those that follow,” said Barry.
Along with dealing with the expected national, social and ethnic difference of the local nationals and Coalition force personnel, Barry also had to learn the U.S. Army culture, which as any Navy person can attest to, can be difficult at times, even beyond terminology, acronyms and synonyms.
“The differences between the Army and Navy are real. Being in the Army environment meant adjustments. It also seemed like someone in the Army had to ask for permission to do anything,” said Barry. “But Special Forces have a bit more autonomy than others and I was expected to perform at a high level. As they did.”
But Doll’s duties also afforded him autonomy. Lock-and-loaded — and armed and with a sizable escort group — he would travel from one base to another for everything from technical analysis to using interpreter-assistance to go over contract requirements with Afghan companies hired to handle the actual construction process, that was a chore in itself due to the cultural difference in not only conducting business arrangements but caring out the actual work.
“It would be a challenge at times getting material and supplies on time and getting some companies to provide what they said they could provide,” Barry said.
Yet for all the travails, trials and tribulations, the deployment was a memorable one. Barry’s advice to those following on such an assignment is to ‘hit the ground running and take the job — whatever it might be — seriously and excel.
“This really is a chance to shine. There are guys who let the time go by and don’t do as much as they could or should,” said Barry.
The designated IA assignment for the Reservist overseas was possible because of both Dolls — Barry took on the challenge and met the demands of taking charge of important down range duties, just as Debbie took on the challenge and handled the demands of all the overlapping responsibilities at home.
They both proved exactly what an insurance agent and Navy family does — provide personal and professional peace of mind, at home and abroad.