“He’s been out of the National Guard for awhile, but he wanted to do something more,” said Vicky Schlegel, Steve’s wife of 16 years. “He talked about joining the Reserves before. We knew it was risky, being self-employed, and it would pose some challenges, but it’s been a good decision for him.”
That’s because the decision falls in line with Steve’s respect for the military, and it has afforded him the ability to pay off the student loans he accrued after graduating from optometry school in 1997. It has also offered the Mitchell native a new challenge and the ability to continue his patriotic dream.
“I get to put on my uniform, support my country and they pay for my college and I make a little extra money,” Steve said. “It’s a win-win situation. I am very glad I did it. If I get deployed, it’s a challenge we’ll take on.”
Steve joined the Reserves in July. A 1987 graduate of Mitchell High School, he joined the Army immediately after graduation and served for two years. From 1989 to 1994, he served in the Indiana National Guard.
“I wanted to stay in to retire,” he said. “That was my ultimate goal. But I was trying to raise a family and finish optometry school, and it was taking too much time, so I resigned my commission in 1994.
“I’ve always appreciated the military and anyone who has served or is serving, especially the people who are enlisting now. I have the utmost respect for anyone who serves in any branch.”
But joining the Reserves is not without its dangers. The likelihood of deployment or a call to active duty is inevitable for the eye doctor.
“We’ll have everything in place for if and when that happens, and we know it’s a big challenge for us because I am self-employed,” Steve said. “I’m excited — not excited about being deployed — but when that day comes, and it will, it’ll be a good experience for me, something I can look back on years down the road. I’ll be able to look back on what I’ve done and where I’ve been. It’ll be an exciting challenge when that happens.”
But he also knows the toughest challenge will be for his wife and three daughters, who will be left in Mitchell, whether he’s deployed to a combat zone or called to active duty in the United States.
“You have to give so much credit to the spouses in this situation,” Steve said, “because they are the ones left at home. It’s actually somewhat easy (for the Reservist) when you think about what the spouse is left to take care of. If I am activated or deployed, the separation won’t be new to Vicky and me because almost as soon as we started dating, I left for the Army and there were separations like that while we were married and I was in the National Guard. She’s tough, and will have enough going on with the girls to keep her busy. It’s just going to be the support aspect over it. And we haven’t been separated like this since we’ve had a family.”
But, regardless, his family supports his decision to join the Reserves.
“My family has always been 100 percent supportive of my military career,” Steve said. “The girls (his three daughters Jocelyn, Fiona and Audrey) know what’s going on with the war, but they’re not scared. When I got my uniform, for example, they all had to try it on and mock Dad. I told them to get used to it because they’re all going into the military after high school, and they just make faces at me.”
For now, however, it’s life as usual for the Schlegels.
“The only thing I know for a fact right now is that I’m going to an officers’ basic course in Texas for about five weeks this spring,” Steve said. “And, of course, you have to train for two weeks in the summer. I’ve heard talk that we’re going to close the business and move, and that’s absolutely not true. When I am deployed or called to active duty, then we’ll have a plan in place to take care of our patients and make the transition absolutely seamless for them.”
source:http://www.tmnews.com/stories/2008/02/11/news.nw-743835.tms
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