Serving At Home And Abroad

“I have always felt that it’s a great honor to serve. If my nation needs me to do that, I do it happily.”

That sense of service will once again be put into action for Greg Schlichting, who will soon be deployed to Afghanistan for the second time with the U.S. Navy.

Schlichting, a commander with the , has spent the past week tying up loose ends and saying goodbye to family and friends as he prepares for a 10-month journey to Afghanistan to train that nation’s police and military forces.

The Navy commander said he will not be on the frontlines in Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be in danger.

“It’s Afghanistan,” the 47-year-old Woodbury resident said. “At any time there could be an IED in the next culvert. The Carolla ahead of you could have a car bomb.”

Following 10 weeks of training in Louisiana, Schlichting will take on an advisory role as the U.S. military turns over control of Afghanistan to local peacekeeping forces. He will help them with strategic planning, logistics and broader aspects of military training.

Military and police leaders there don’t typically think on a national scale, Schlichting said, and as Afghan security personnel swell to 200,000 to 400,000, the U.S. is helping the country implement a more modern system.

“Hopefully, I’ll start to see that on this tour,” Schlichting said.

He won’t be helping them learn to fight.

“The senior Afghans have been doing that all their lives,” Schlichting said. “There’s nothing I know that would add to their experience. … They’re amazing warriors.”

Schlichting joined the military primarily to secure an ROTC scholarship for his college education. He was on active duty for five years starting in 1985. This will be his second trip to Afghanistan with the Navy. His first was in 2008, when he had a similar directive.

This time around, Schlichting will lead a team of 12 Navy personnel, specialists in different fields, who will work one on one with their Afghan counterparts.

As a firefighter, Schlichting said public safety and military service are similar in that they both require a team effort, able leadership and an efficient deployment of resources. His time with the Woodbury Fire Department helped him hone those skills.

“It’s putting people in the right position to be successful,” he said.

In his absence, Schlichting said his duties with the department will be spread among other firefighters. The Woodbury community has been very supportive of the military in general, he said. “My part of deploying is easy.”

Schlichting was told of his latest tour on July 1, and he has spent the past few weeks maximizing his time with family and friends.

“My family is not pleased that I allowed myself to be mobilized this soon,” he said. “But they are very supportive and they understand that this is what I choose to do.

“I could have retired, but I didn’t feel that I finished all that I could to contribute in the Navy.”