As of this month, more than 85,000 Army National Guard and Army Reserve members have been called to active duty, statistics from the U.S. Department of Defense shows.
“I’m having mixed emotions. I’m excited but at the same time sad because I will be leaving my family again. For some of us, this will be our second deployment,” he told Variety in an interview on Wednesday.
“If it’s not mandatory my choice is to stay here and work on serious issues facing the commonwealth,” added Yumul, 35, who returned to Saipan in 2005 after serving the U.S. military for a year in Iraq. “There is a presidential order on this deployment. We are called up to serve.”
Since his return, he and his wife Maritess, have had two more boys.
“I have three sons now. It’s very hard to leave. They are in their formative years now,” he said.
Yumul, R-Saipan, and the rest of the CNMI Reservists are scheduled to leave the islands on July 15 for California where they will undergo extensive training before their deployment to Kuwait.
Although he is proud to serve his country, Yumul said fatherhood has changed many things in his life.
While the Reservists will be based in Kuwait, their mission will involve regular traveling in and around Iraq.
During his first deployment, Yumul, who holds the rank of a sergeant, said Reservists like him conducted perimeter security checks at a U.S. camp in Iraq on a 24-hour shifting basis.
This time, their mission may expose them to terrorists.
Yumul said he keeps their family photo with him wherever he goes to remind him that they are waiting for him.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said the CNMI House of Representatives appreciates Yumul’s contributions to the Legislature and prays for his safe return.
“We feel for the guy (Yumul). He’s been activated. We surely appreciate his role as a member of the House. And we admire him for his commitment to serve the military. It’s such a mixed feeling to have someone from the Legislature (serve in Iraq),” Palacios said.
Yumul dropped out of the historic CNMI congressional election due to his military commitments.
During their session yesterday, House Minority Leader Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan, called on his colleagues to pray for Yumul and his fellow CNMI soldiers who will be deployed to Middle East.
