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Some soldiers leave behind constituentsHandful of lawmakers at local level called to serve
EUSTIS, Florida (AP) -- Most of America's soldiers and sailors serving in the Middle East left family and friends behind when they were deployed. First Sgt. Carey Baker also bid farewell to his constituents. Baker, a two-term Republican representing a central Florida district in the state House of Representatives, has spent the past two months on active duty in the Persian Gulf. While Baker, 40, stands alone as the only state legislator currently stationed in the Gulf, a handful of lawmakers at local and state levels have either recently served military commitments or will do so soon. New Hampshire state Sen. Joe Kenney, a Marine reservist and Gulf War veteran, learned last week he will be called to active duty in early May. On Thursday, the Senate gave Kenney a standing ovation and wished him a safe and speedy return. And Rep. Doran Metzger told colleagues in January he would miss nearly the entire legislative session while serving with a Vermont National Guard air ambulance company. Other lawmakers have felt the tension of balancing military service with their constituents. • Ohio state Rep. John Boccieri missed several weeks of the legislative session this year while flying a C-130 cargo plane for the Guard near the Iraqi border. • Last month, John Pippy, Pennsylvania's newest state senator, was sworn in while on a one-day pass from the Army's 332nd Engineer Company in Aberdeen, Maryland. Pippy, a captain, commands the unit. • U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, a Naval Reserve intelligence officer, has arranged to spend Congress' two-week spring recess as a watch officer in the Pentagon's war room. • Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Indiana, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves who was a legal adviser in POW camps during the Persian Gulf War, volunteered to serve overseas but the Pentagon turned down his offer. There are almost 217,000 reservists and guardsmen currently taking part in American military operations overseas and at home, said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking. While statehouses across the country have said occasional deployments are not a problem, some legislatures are pushing for laws that would allow temporary appointees to vote in place of legislators called to duty. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican elected last November, is currently going through two weeks of Air Force Reserves training at Maxwell Air Force Base near Montgomery, Alabama. He recently said he has a better understanding for how most state employees feel now that training has put him on the bottom of the pecking order. "From the standpoint of empathy, I think there's tremendous value," Sanford said. Another central Florida politician, Orange County Commissioner Bob Sindler, has served as a veterinarian in Afghanistan for the past six months. When Sindler announced in September that his unit was being deployed, there was some outcry that he wasn't giving up his job. But there have been no calls for Baker -- who commands about 130 troops from Alpha Company of the Florida National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment -- to quit. During his State of the State address in March, Gov. Jeb Bush showed a video clip of the lawmaker, dressed in his battle fatigues during training at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Lawmakers from both parties responded with applause. While Baker's desk in the chamber remains empty, a political analyst said his absence has actually worked to further his aims on the House floor. House lawmakers passed his bill last week that would give private school vouchers to the children of military personnel. While the measure was opposed by some Democrats who feared it would siphon off funding to public schools, it would've faced tougher scrutiny if America wasn't in its current "rally-round-the-flag mode," said University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett. "In an odd way, he may actually now have more legislative clout," Jewett said. Waiting for Baker's safe return to Eustis, a community of more than 15,000 on the fringe of Orlando's sprawl, are his three brothers, his wife and 6-month-old son. Baker, who helps run the family-owned gun shop business, has served 22 years with the Guard and has served long deployments before -- 52 days during the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew in 1992 -- but this is the first time he's left behind a child. In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Baker said the war has already added to his perspective. "It has only served to enhance my commitment to protecting our American freedoms, as a soldier, an elected representative and as a parent." Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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