Iraq - On a moments notice, the men and women of 244th Air Brigade spring to work.
Sgt. 1st class Jason Debusk says, "hey, if it needs to get from point A to point B, give us a call and we'll get them there."
The Louisiana National Guard unit, appropriately called the "Tiger Brigade", is permanently on call.
Lt. Colonel Patrick Bosetta of New Orleans is the battalion commander. "I can't think of one state that has pulled its weight more than Louisiana," said Debusk.
The Tiger Brigade has been deployed for 35 of the last 54 months. That’s nearly three years of total service dating back to the war's beginning. It was the rooftop rescues in the days after Katrina, now, Iraq again.
Pilot Mike Stanko is on his second tour in Iraq.
"We shared a lot of time together last time we were here. Probably 50 percent of the people that are here were here last time. It's great," Stanko said.
Colonel Bosetta feels pride toward his battalion.
"If anybody wants something to be proud of in Louisiana, I know we kind of get hit on a few things.Just look at the commitment to mission that these citizen soldiers do."
Teachers, police officers, bankers, doctors...in civilian life, the 'colonel' is a lawyer who defends NOPD officers involved in shooting incidents.
Bosetta says, “Every walk of life from every community in that state, I will. I will do it. What a commitment. What a commitment to the country, to how they feel about freedom and liberty.”
Bosetta tells photographer Julie Dermansky being in a war zone produces a certain perspective about the challenges back home.
"That’s what we gotta go back to is that spirit and heart. They'll rebuild. We'll rebuild. That spirit, that character, that charm, the food, how we live. You can't destroy that with a hurricane. No way on this earth," Bosetta said.
This is the third time he has served in the Middle East.
"The one thing I will take away is that I have come to realize that children are children. It doesn't matter where you are in the world. It really doesn't. Kids are kids," Bosetta added. "People, no matter where they are, wanna be free. They wanna have certain liberties. And yes, you can have liberties within different cultures. But freedom and liberty are really, I think, deep down what people really want."
Pilot Stanko says, "You have a lot of people have different opinions about why we're here, what we're doing and how we're doing it, but the bottom line is you can be patriotic and you can be supportive of the mission. But the bottom line is you're here for your friends."
Important as those personal relationship are, they go even deeper at crunch time. "Everybody knows their place and their job and what they gotta do to make everything go smoothly." says Stanko.
These citizen soldiers are far from home but always stay devoted to the mission whether it involves rooftop rescues or rooftop patrols.
