I am the Program Manager for the security contractor at NAS Kingsville, TX and have 7 of my employees that have been called up to active duty. Their service is in Iraq, Afghanistan, and locally (within 200 miles) doing border patrol augmentation. One of my field supervisors (SGT) was hit by an IED last fall and has had 5 surgeries on his eyes to date. His body armor kept all of his vital organs protected and the major damage he received was to his face, neck and eyes.

Prior to retiring from the active Army in May, I spent much of the previous year deployed to Iraq. My second combat tour, I was struck by how many of my comrades were Army Reservist and National Guardsmen. Even more striking was the high percentage of Reserve and NG soldiers who where cops in civilian life.

The reserves have a very appropriate motto which describes these types of men and women. It is “Twice the Citizen”. I suppose someone has to make up for the many in our society that have never scarified for their follow man.

We are lucky we have people like this.