Upcoming Deployment Puts Strain on Families, Businesses
posted 5:35 pm Mon December 10, 2007 - Little Rock
The Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Brigade is less than one month away from their tour to Iraq.
The deployment is clearly difficult for the families. But it’s also a burden for hundreds of employers across the state.
The Little Rock Fire Department is just one of many employers for members of the 39th Brigade when they’re not on active duty. The department currently has six people off due to military leave.
Little Rock Police have lost about 20. In North Little Rock Police is down six employees while their fire department is only down one.
All the employers say the cutbacks are manageable, but they definitely put a strain on the departments.
(Captain Jason Weaver, Little Rock Fire Department) "We’re fairly short-staffed during the holidays and hunting season … These absences put us in an overtime situation. So we’ll be forced to pay overtime and, of course, that comes out of the taxpayers’ budget."
And for a small town police department with only two employees…the burden is even heavier. Amity, Arkansas is a town with less than 800 people, and a police force of two officers. And when one of the officers is less than a month a way from a deployment to Iraq, all that’s left is the chief.
(Chief Stephen Huston, Amity Police Department) "I’m able to get one part time person from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office to come in and assist, take a little of the load off of me. Basically, I just cover it myself the rest of the time."
Chief Huston will be on call 24/7 until 2009. The problem is, under federal law, he cannot replace the officer. And it’s hard to find a part-time policeman.
(Huston) "It's kind of a catch 22 because we do have to hold the position open for the man that goes to Iraq and to hire somebody off the street if they've never been a certified police officer, we spend 12 weeks at the academy and then at the end of the year, you're going to have to turn them loose anyway."
This is the second time the Amity Police department has been cut in half by a tour in Iraq. Chief Huston survived the first deployment and so far it has not hindered the public’s safety. But it has been a tremendous strain for the department.
Still Captain Weaver with the Little Rock Fire Department says the biggest prices is not financial, it’s personal.
(Weaver) "I think the biggest hit is personally. You know, like I said, the fire department is a family. You miss these people and of course you feel for their family."
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