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Love has no bounds: couple shares first deployment

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Zachary Kee
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

After more than three years of dating, this military couple agreed it was time to tie the knot. Celebrating as most couples do, their wedding brought happiness and a new chapter to their relationship.

Once the wedding bells were a sound heard off in the distance, the couple started settling into being husband and wife. Shortly after, an unexpected notification came into the mix.

“It’s your turn to deploy.”

The Air Force tasked Senior Airman Joseph Flores a member of the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California to deploy to this undisclosed location in Southwest Asia and would have to leave behind his new bride and move thousands of miles away to the other side of the world.

The couple was left to ask, “Is there any other way?”

After her husband received the tasking, Tech Sgt. Holly Flores, also with the same unit at Moffett, asked the question that could possibly prevent the separation.

Holly asked if she could volunteer and if there were any positions available where her husband was headed. After waiting for an answer, they got the answer they were looking for.

Both Holly and Joseph would be deploying to the 386th Expeditionary Communications Squadron.

After traveling nearly 7000 miles away from home, Joseph made it to the unit five days prior to his wife. Once Holly arrived, the couple reunited; thankful they were able to avoid a six-month separation.

Though they work in different offices within the squadron, they are more than appreciative that they get to be in the same place for a very important milestone.

When they deployed, the couple were married for seven months.

“We just celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary on June 12,” said Joseph.

While most couples enjoy candlelit dinners, nights-out, or something a little more romantic on their anniversary, this couple are happy they are together even if they are deployed.

“We didn't really celebrate it like we would have back home,” said Holly. “But at least we were able to spend our first anniversary together.”

Being in a deployed environment can be stressful for all but having someone to spend time with and people who are there for you can make things easier.

“It's great to always have somebody to go to meals with and hang out with,” said Joseph. “It’s fun to have your best friend here with you.”

Working in the 386 ECS has its demands, as the entire base depends on the squadron’s mission to stay connected through the base’s vast network of phones and computers. For this couple, staying connected is a mission they don’t just leave at the office.

“Being put in a stressful environment with your spouse makes for a more resilient marriage and has brought us a lot closer together,” he said. “We’ve developed a routine for our days off and evenings together.”

For the Flores, whatever brings them closer together is all that matters. Whether it is nightly walks around the perimeter road or grabbing dinner at the dining facility, it’s time they wouldn’t have if they weren’t here together.

“It makes us more resilient against the deployed environment,” said Holly. “It has made it easier to cope with the high stress and long days by just having someone here supporting you.”

Over the time of a deployment, new experiences and once-in-a lifetime opportunities arise that you wouldn’t get stateside. For these married Airmen it’s no different.

 “This deployment put us out of our comfort zone,” said Holly. “We have had lots of experiences that we wouldn’t have gotten at home. It has been a fun and unique experience.”

The couple has a month left on their deployment and has plans to continue growing together in their relationship once they get home.

The first thing on their agenda is a “staycation” for the two of them to kick-back and relax while they think about the past six months of their lives.

“When we get home we plan on taking day trips close to home with an emphasis on places we haven’t been,” said Holly. “We also plan to visit our favorite restaurants and coffee places we have been missing for the past six months.”

Like most people, the couple plans to spend time with the ones they left behind over the course of the deployment.

“We are just looking forward to being able to spend time with family, friends, and pets,” said Joseph. “We are going to enjoy being back home and spending more time together.”