By David Harry
Staff Writer

The first time Sgt. Maj. Peter Kelley went to Iraq, he shared a tent with four other soldiers as they fought in Operation Desert Storm.
The second time Kelley went to Iraq, he was with the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard, deployed in 2004 for what became a 14-month tour of duty.
Kelley, who lives in Scarborough with his wife, Kim, and their two children, will return to Iraq sometime next spring as the 133rd is again called to duty on a mission Kelley said will involve construction work.
Memories of his last deployment are still vivid, Kelley said.
“If you have ever been in an accident and know that feeling of adrenaline three seconds before it, it’s like living that way for the whole time,” he said.
Kelley, who served in the Army for 11 years before joining the Maine Army National Guard 13 years ago, said preparing for deployment is critical for success of the mission.
“We have been told we need to do it and I will make the best of it,” Kelley said.
More than 800 members of the Maine Army National Guard have been called up for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan next spring, according to Guard spokesman Capt. Shannon Cotta. More than half of National Guard soldiers in the state will be called to overseas combat duty.
Kelley will be joined by South Portland residents Staff Sgt. Matthew Longo and Chief Warrant Officer Chris Barnaby. Barnaby was part of the 2004 deployment and Longo is going on his first assignment.
Kelley and Longo are full-time officers in the Maine Army National Guard, with Kelly the second in command of the 133rd. Barnaby will leave his job at Maine Medical Center for what is expected to be a 12-month assignment.
“I’m prepared, and my job is to prepare the soldiers,” Longo said of his work compiling emergency contacts, insurance documents and paperwork for promotions.
Barnaby said he is bracing his son Keegan, 15, and his girlfriend, Kim Valentine, for his assignment.
“How do you mentally prepare for something that is ever changing,” Barnaby asked. His answer has been with humor and candor as he and Valentine fully confront her fears and worries about the deployment.
Valentine, a teacher at Deering High School in Portland, said adjusting to a life without Barnaby at home may be “comparatively easier; I have lived alone before.”
“I let her move in because she had better tools than me,” Barnaby said.
“I may not be that good with the snow thrower yet,” Valentine said.
But as he moved to compile and post emergency phone numbers, automatically pay his bills online and mark utility and water shut-off valves in his home with bright tags, he urged everyone headed with him to do the same.
“Pay the bills and make sure the support systems are there,” is Longo’s advice to men preparing to leave home. He will be leaving his girlfriend, Kristie Bradbury, and their two cats and dogs behind when he ships out.
The composition of the 133rd has changed since the last assignment in Iraq with an estimated 60 percent turnover, Kelley said.
So has the focus on preparing soldiers for duty, he said, as intensive language courses now are available online and the battalion chaplains keep busy answering questions and trying to alleviate worries.
Battalion members have known for at least 18 months they would be called up again, Kelley said. It is his job to identify who might be troubled by the assignment or preparing for it and see they get the help they need.
He said it can be difficult because active duty commanders see their troops five or seven days a week while a guard commander sees his troops perhaps two weekends a month.
Because he was married while still on active duty, he said his wife grew accustomed to the demands of military life.
“I could have gone to work on a Monday and then be gone for four months,” Kelley said.
Kelley said the support network for families of soldier serving over sees has expanded vastly since the war in Iraq began in 2003.
“There are people here who will trip over themselves to help,” said Kelley, who had his well pump and septic system fail while he was in Iraq in 2004.
Longo said the battalion spent considerable time training in Massachusetts this summer, learning more about tactical movements, camouflage and how to deal with the cultural and weather climates.
The battalion assignment will be to build structures. Barnaby said the B Company of the 133rd was split into units that either clear land or build structures. He is now a part of the 136th Engineer Company based in Westbrook.
“We have a chop saw here and a table saw there,” he said. The company includes carpenters, electricians and masons.
Based in Mosul in 2004, the battalion lost two men when a suicide bomber infiltrated a mess hall. Kelley and Barnaby said they were in other areas when the attack occurred.  Keegan Barnaby, Chris Barnaby’s son, said he is uneasy about current headlines about violence in Iraq.
He also said the nicest thing civilians can do is to ask how soldiers and their families are doing during the deployment, while Kelley said the care packages and letters from local students are always welcomed.
Longo and Barnaby said they will be taking vacations with their companions before leaving, and are confident in the soldiers with whom they serve.
“I am thankful I am deploying with this group of people,” Longo said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219