U.S. Army 1st Lt. Patrick DeForest, Company D, 1st Battalion. 159th Aviation Regiment, and his wife 1st Lt. Rebecca DeForest, Company B, 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, serve as UH-60 Blackhawk pilots at Logistics Support Area Anaconda, Balad, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jerome Bishop
U.S. Army 1st Lts. Patrick and Rebecca DeForest Husband, Wife Pilots Serve Together
By U.S. Army Spc. Jerome Bishop
1st Corps Support Command Public Affairs Office
BALAD, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2005 — The separation during deployments can become a dangerous obstacle very quickly when it comes to marriage, but for two UH-60 Blackhawk pilots on Logistics Support Area Anaconda, deployment to Iraq has kept them together.
“It feels completely wonderful to be deployed together,” said 1st Lt. Rebecca DeForest, a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot from B Company, 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment, who deployed Jan. 9 with the South Carolina National Guard.
“We can share all of our experiences first hand and we can relate to our jobs and struggles and our accomplishments.”
The couple almost missed the opportunity to stay together overseas, but reacting quickly to their situation allowed the DeForests to deploy almost at the same time.
“Last year I was in the 82nd Aviation Brigade,” said 1st Lt. Patrick DeForest, a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot from D Company, 1st Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment who deployed to LSA Anaconda on Dec. 18, 2004. “Her unit got alerted for deployment in May 2004 and then activated in September. In September, I asked my supervisor if there was a possibility that I could switch over to the 1-159th.
“First they said ‘We'll look into it',” he said. “Then there was a one-for-one switch but the 82nd didn't want to because the other soldier didn't have the experience they needed.”
“He swapped out with a female lieutenant in the 159th because her husband was in the 82nd,” Rebecca said.
“It ended up being that another married couple got assigned with the 82nd and that way two married couples could be assigned in their spouse's command.”
“So she went over to the 82nd and I went over to the 159th,” Patrick added.