MEDINA AUDITOR TO DEPLOY AGAIN FOR IRAQ WAR
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
MICHAEL KOVACK, UP FOR RE-ELECTION DURING HIS 1-YEAR STINT, MUST LEAVE FAMILY OF 4 TO JOIN ANTI-TERROR UNIT
Julie Wallace, Beacon Journal staff writer
| He's the second in command for an anti-terrorism and force protection unit based in Buffalo, N.Y. This will be his second deployment during the Iraq war. In 2003, he spent six months in Turkey and other European countries. The Middle East will not be foreign turf. Prior to his election as auditor in 1993, he served in the Navy from 1985 to 1989, doing three tours in the Persian Gulf. He shifted to reserve status from 1989 to 1993, then left the service -- going to what is known as individual ready reserve, a military term for out of the service, but available if needed. As it turned out, he was needed: He was recalled to reserve status in December 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks. He was activated in January 2003 with a Toledo unit known as the Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit and sent to Turkey, Sicily and Crete. Kovack, who was unsure how much of his latest deployment he could discuss, said only that he leaves Nov. 28 for two months of training. That he's headed to Iraq, though, is a certainty, he said. Kovack said his office staff handled his deployment before, and he's confident that it can do so again. He expects to be gone about a year. The last time, he was able to talk to his staff by phone and e-mail. Whether that will be possible this time remains to be seen. Kovack is up for re-election next year and has already taken out petitions so his name can appear on the ballot. But he admitted there is some concern about his re-election chances if he's gone. "Unfortunately, I can't really focus on that right now," he said. The deployment, he said, will be most difficult on his family -- his wife, Dawn; 9-year-old son, Michael, from a previous marriage; and stepdaughters Lauren, 14, and Madison, 11. "I gave her a mug awhile back: 'Navy Wife, toughest job in the Navy,' -- I think that about covers it," Kovack said. |