While other students scramble to find a costume to this weekend’s Halloween parties, third years Ryan Chatman and Matt Bulloch will don
a uniform.
Unlike their peers, however, these men proudly will remain dressed up — in Army fatigues — long after the Halloween celebrations end. Come Friday, Chatman and Bulloch, both members of the Virginia Army National Guard Infantry Battalion, will go on active duty for the next year.
Their first stop is Fort Bragg, N.C. After that, there’s a good chance their Charlottesville unit could wind up at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where they would spend six months guarding Taliban detainees. Under Operation Enduring Freedom, however, relocation to Afghanistan — or anywhere else in the world — remains a distinct possibility.
For now, this vague description is the extent of Chatman and Bulloch’s knowledge of their trip’s logistics. Bulloch cannot solicit more information from a higher officer, because the Army discourages “jumping the chain of command,” he said.
“We’re the first to go, last to know,” he said of his unit.
Signing up
The Virginia National Guard has several units interspersed throughout the state. When Bulloch and Chatman already were enrolled as full-time students at the University, they enlisted in the infantry unit stationed in Charlottesville. The unit is broken down into two battalions of about 30 men. The youngest members are straight out of high school, and others are in their 40s, married with children.
Sitting outside the Pav, Chatman, a tall, sturdy man clad in a white sweatshirt and baggy jeans, took a moment before describing infantry life in combat.
“You see us walking through the woods, with packs on our backs, on the front line,” he said. “We basically run the army, and the rest supports us as we do the nasty stuff: blow stuff up, shoot people — if it comes to that.”
Although Chatman has a family history of military service — his father also was part of the National Guard, and two uncles served in the Army — ultimately he decided to join the National Guard last fall for financial reasons. The National Guard pays tuition.
Bulloch, stocky with shaved light brown hair, is one of five children, and agreed that relieving parents of a hefty out-of-state tuition is worth a six-year commitment to the military.
While talking about his deployment over coffee at Espresso Royale, Bulloch frequently apologized when he digressed to topics such as his love of snowboarding, and his younger brother, who just got engaged.
As a civilian solider, Bulloch said he is proud that he can directly serve the U.S. in times of war.
“I wanted to be a part of something bigger,” said Bulloch, who admits that when he enlisted last April, he seriously doubted his chances of getting called out on duty.
A past member of the Army ROTC program at Brigham Young University, Bulloch spent the past three summers as a squad boss of a firefighting brigade that covered 40,000 acres of land in Montana. Last year, he transferred into the Commerce School, enlisting in the infantry unit partially because he wanted to find an activity that would involve the same “camaraderie, excitement and a sense of urgency” that fighting fires offered him.
Little did Bulloch know that within six months, the war on terrorism would provide his first big adventure in the military.
Training Days
Bulloch and Chatman met when they were enrolled in the Army version of summer camp: Basic Training.
A required activity for all enlisted in the Army, Basic Training entails three months of position-specific preparation. For members of the infantry, whom Chatman says are “responsible for overtaking the enemy when it comes down to battle,” training aims to increase the likelihood that they will “stay alive in a combat situation.”
Each rigorous day began with a 4 a.m. wake-up call. All soldiers are to be in their uniforms and lined up in proper formation by 4:45 a.m., with their weapons cleaned.
“Unless we were marching, we were running,” said Bulloch, recalling nights when he slept no more than two hours. His memories of the first few weeks include lots of yelling from squad leaders and 10-minute breaks for meals, during which he could not look up or talk.
Over the course of the summer, however, he grew stronger. Within a matter of weeks, Bulloch knocked down his time for the daily two-mile run to 11 minutes, nine seconds.
Chatman learned firsthand how integral trust and teamwork are to the Army’s basic functioning. Assigned to a four-man fire team, he practiced formation and communication strategies for all possible combat situations, particularly ones during which the infantry is fired upon. With trees, pits and the continual threat of enemy soldiers as constant factors in battle, Chatman needed confidence in his approximations about the location of the others.
“When you get there, you’re an individual, and you’re an individual when you leave,” he said. “But while you’re there, you’re a part of a team.”
In retrospect, Chatman and Bulloch agree that their exhausting Basic Training experiences were essential to their military education. Chatman noted he discovered that drill sergeants and other superiors are “supposed to come off real mean,” but are “real people” that can be trusted.
Now, both men are proving their confidence in their leaders as they wait for information on where the next stop after North Carolina will be.
Getting ready to go
Once they learned about their impending deployment in September, Bulloch and Chatman began immediate preparation for their departure. They trained with chemical weaponry, and now are able to put on their protective masks in seven seconds. Having completed Basic Training, both students easily re-qualified with basic combat weaponry, too.
But spending time with family and friends is the most important activity before they leave.
In their last weeks in Charlottesville, both Chatman and Bulloch have made trips home to Maryland and Utah a priority. Chatman spent time with high school friends, who always have admired him for enlisting. But with less than a week until he leaves the country, the seriousness of his commitment to the Army has “really hit home,” he said.
Bulloch’s enlistment is hitting home for his family, too. He refused his father’s initial offer to hire an Army lawyer and try to get him out of deployment. His mom has tried to maintain an optimistic outlook on his assignment, but her positive attitude hasn’t fooled Bulloch’s youngest sister. She is upset that her older brother will miss her birthday and Christmas.
“Everyone is doing this,” Bulloch said, noting his commitment to setting aside his personal situation. “There’s no space to complain.”
Over the past year, the two men have grown closer to other members of their battalion. Up until this month, bimonthly drill sessions were the extent of Bulloch and Chatman’s contact with their fellow troops. Now, the 30 men get together to hang out and watch football or go to bars.
“When stuff comes down to it, you don’t want to be like, ‘hey what’s your name again,’ not knowing you the guy standing next to you is,” Chatman said.
As they finalize details of their trip by repairing ripped uniforms, Bulloch and Chatman also must figure out accommodations for their cars and sublease apartments for next semester. Because the Commerce School program requires a consecutive two-year commitment, Bulloch had to withdraw from his courses — but received full reimbursement for doing so.
These details, though, seem almost trivial to Bulloch, when he considers what the deployment means to a fellow unit member, who must leave his wife of only two weeks. Other men worry for their families’ financial stability, and who will run their businesses in their absence.
In light of what others in his unit are sacrificing, Bulloch said he has gotten beyond the “huge inconvenience” of being pulled out of school.
“No one forced me to raise my right hand,” he said.
