...400 Days: Chronicled Adventures of a Soldier and His Wife Living Abroad During Deployment

Since 2001 the families of our military have been burdened with deployment after deployment. The activation of the National Guard is unprecedented today. Not since WWII has the National Guard been routinely deployed as they have been since 2001 to help fight the war on terror. This is our familiy's story from a civilian life to an active military life. Keeping the marriage and family together is the best defense in maintaining a strong military. Every family is unique as they begin this "new normal," learning to survive the deployment and aftermath of a life that is hardly recognizable anymore. As much as this is our story, it's also our rehabilitation back into civilian life, returning to a community that has little understanding of what faces the civilian soldier and their family.

As a wife of a National Guard Officer for 22 years and having spent more than 20 years in corporate America focused on Human Resources and the building of successful management teams, I took a leap of faith, left the world I knew so well, and moved to Germany on my own adventure while my husband deployed. My adventure and his deployment forever changed me. Since the beginning of my husband’s deployment and his subsequent return, I’ve spent the last two years embracing this new life, writing and becoming involved in the fight for our great military families. In pursuit of my fight for military families, I joined Blue Star Families as the Director for National Guard/Reserve Outreach in January 2009. Through this organization I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting such wonderful and passionate people who are completely focused on improving the life for our military families. My commitment today is dedicated to the new face of the military family; my efforts and that of Blue Star Families are to engage and energize America to succeed in helping sustain the strength of our military through family support and communities that care. That is my mission. I hope you enjoy this book and the story it tells in such a unique way. 5% of the book proceeds will go to military families.