Lance Corporal Bekah Shaw joined the United States Marine reserves to help support herself and her son when her ex-husband, Billy Roy, decided they were no longer his responsibility. But when her team is activated and sent to Somalia on a peacekeeping mission, Bekah struggles with being separated from her son and vows to return safely. Once a successful Somalian businessman, Rageh Daud has lost everything. Determined to seek revenge on the terrorists who killed his wife and son, he teams up with a group of thieves, killers, and others displaced by war. Despite his better judgment, Daud becomes the protector of a young orphaned boy—who becomes a pawn between the warring factions. To defeat the terrorists and bring peace to the region, Bekah and her team must convince Daud that they are on the same side.

Nearly 1.9 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. Many service members and veterans face serious challenges in readjusting to normal life after returning home. This initial book presents findings on the most critical challenges, and lays out the blueprint for the second phase of the study to determine how best to meet the needs of returning troops and their families.

Military families face stressful times that are unique to the military lifestyle. One of the most challenging situations, both for children and parents, is when a father, mother, or sibling is deployed for military service and must be away from the home. Children often experience sadness, anger, fear, anxiety, and loneliness, and they do not understand their own feelings or know how to express them. This book is designed to help children especially, but also their parents, during such difficult times. Based on many years of experience as a social worker, who has assisted military families experiencing stress, author Beth Andrews has created an excellent tool for allowing children and their loved ones to deal with the many emotions caused by deployment. The text and illustrations encourage children to discuss their feelings and to draw their own pictures to express themselves. The accompanying parents'' guide is designed to validate parents'' feelings and give them ways to help their children cope. Guided by this approach, a parent or caregiver can help their children understand why one of their parents or a sibling had to leave home, identify their reactions, cope with their feelings in a positive way, be assured that they are not alone, and try new activities to help themselves adjust. At a time when military families are asked to make many sacrifices in the service of their country, this reassuring book will be a welcome resource.

Wondering what you are in for as you move to your first military base, or as you try to recover from numerous deployments? Deployed is the perfect solution for every member of a military family who wants a healthy family. From the time you finish boot camp to the time you return from your last deployment, this book provides principles that will guide you in your journey through family life in the military. In the face of extended war, record high divorces, and combat stress, professional on-base counselor Dr. Stanley Hall gives answers and directions for wading through it all and finding more happiness and success in your military family than you ever imagined.

"Deployed is an important and deeply moving book. Here, in this story, the heroic tradition of the American citizen-soldier lives on." ---Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor, Boston University, and author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War "Whatever your feelings about Iraq, Deployed is an important and compelling work that illuminates the real human cost of the war, and gives voice to those compelled to fight it." ---Ken Wells, Senior Editor, Condé Nast Portfolio "Currently, there are few to no books dealing with the sociology of Iraq, and even fewer have empirical data on the experiences of American soldiers. More important, this work provides a strong and needed voice for soldiers---their words are compelling, rich, and moving." ---Morten Ender, Professor of Sociology, United States Military Academy at West Point "This is a unique book that weaves historical, ethnographic, and organizational approaches for a study of Iraq-War military reservists. . . . the authors' findings challenge the pervading wisdom on reservists' motivations for service; the chemistry between family, reserve duty, and relations with regular military; and the effect that service in Iraq had on them." ---Jerry Lembcke, Associate Professor of Sociology, Holy Cross College What is it like to be one of the citizen-soldiers summoned to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan? The events of 9/11 were a call to arms for many reservists, as shock, anger, and fear propelled large numbers to volunteer for the opportunity to serve their country in the Middle East. Even the most patriotic, however, had not expected that the wars would last so long or that the Army Reserve would supply so much of the manpower. Using the soldiers' own voices, Deployed draws upon the life stories of members of an Army Reserve MP Company, who were called to extraordinary service after September 11. The book explores how and why they joined the Army Reserve, how they dealt with the seismic changes in their lives during and after deployment, the evolution of their relationships inside and outside their military unit, and their perspectives on the U.S. Army. Musheno and Ross uncover five pathways that led these citizens to join the reserves, showing how basic needs and cultural idioms combined to stimulate enlistments. Whatever path led to enlistment, the authors find that citizen-soldiers fall into three distinct categories: adaptive reservists who adjust quickly to the huge changes in their lives abroad and at home, struggling reservists whose troubles are more a product of homegrown circumstances than experiences specific to serving in a war zone, and reservists who are dismissive of military life while they live it and oppose the war even as they fight it. Perhaps most important, Deployed challenges the prevailing stereotype of returning soldiers as war-damaged citizens. Jacket photograph: AP Photo/Hutchinson News, Travis Morisse.

From bestselling author Julia Cook, comes a story about the challenging (and fun) changes a military family goes through when a parent is deployed. "I think I'm pretty lucky because I'm part of a military family. It makes me really proud to know my parents are working to keep our country safe. I get to do stuff other kids don't. My life is kinda unique. I've tried on night vision goggles, and I've looked inside a Humvee." Life is full of unique opportunities and challenges for military families. They live in different places, shop on military bases, and have to navigate changes in how they operate as a family when a parent is deployed. In Deployment: One of Our Pieces is Missing, our family must learn to stretch and adapt as they find their new normal while Dad is gone. And once home again, they work through a mix of emotions as he settles back into the family frame. With tips for adults to help children process their questions and feelings, this book serves to honor the sacrifices our military families make each day by equipping them with an approachable way to discuss the highs and lows of deployment.

Because of its strong interest in providing airmen with the cross-cultural skills that have grown ever more essential to successful mission accomplishment in foreign environments, the Air Force asked RAND to provide a foundation for the design of a comprehensive Air Force program of cross-cultural training and education. RAND researchers responded by first creating a taxonomy covering all behaviors relevant to cross-cultural performance after the need for such a taxonomy became evident from a review of the literature on cross-cultural performance and discussions with Air Force personnel. From this taxonomy, the researchers developed a framework of 14 categories of cross-cultural behaviors--nine categories of enabling behaviors and five of goal-oriented behaviors. This framework was then used in designing a survey for 21,000 recently deployed airmen that asked them to rate the importance of the behaviors to their deployed performance and the helpfulness of training they had received in the behaviors (both over their careers and just prior to deployment). Respondents were also asked to indicate how much training they had received. Recommendations and suggestions for the design of a comprehensive program of cross-cultural training and education and for further research steps were made based on extensive analyses of the results, which included determining whether training needs differed by AFSC, grade (enlisted/officer), and deployment location.

"...excellent resource for parents, teachers, counselors, and other caregivers to help young children feel a part of the deployment process and prepare them for what's coming next." --Operation We Are Here The activities in this fun 112-page activity book reinforce concepts young children are already learning and give them a safe way to ask questions, talk about their feelings, and feel connected to a deployed parent. Four sections (Getting Ready for Deployment, Deployment, Getting Ready for Reunion, and Reunion) provide appropriate activities for each stage of deployment, from packing and saying goodbye to welcoming Dad home. Includes mazes, dot-to-dots, counting, matching, coloring, crafts, telling time and other activities familiar to preschool and elementary children. A fun book for children and an excellent resource for parents, teachers, counselors, and other caregivers to help young children feel a part of the deployment process and prepare them for what's coming next. This book is specific to a dad deploying. A version for deployed moms is also available.

Personal stories, practical ideas, and checklists help readers know what to expect, how to prepare, and how to personally grow as individuals and families. Updated second edition includes new information about longer repeat and multiple deployments, self-care and wellness, and stories and examples from recent conflicts.

Theory-based, practice-driven strategies for handling separation issues in military families by internationally renowned consultant/trainer.