Photo by Deb Gau Tracy area community members came to talk with Kala Jacob, at right, and sign a life-size cutout of her husband Nate Jacob, during Box Car Days in Tracy. Kala said she was bringing the cutout to events while Nate is deployed with the National Guard, as a way to show him that people were thinking of him.

TRACY — It’s been three months since a group of 70 National Guard soldiers got a deployment send-off in Marshall. While National Guard members have been gone, they haven’t been forgotten, Kala Jacob said.

During Tracy’s Box Car Days celebration, people were coming up to write words of encouragement on the back of a life-size cutout of Kala’s husband, Staff Sgt. Nate Jacob, who was among the area soldiers deployed in May.

Jacob said she’s taken the cutout of Nate to events like family gatherings and Box Car Days as a way to include Nate even while he’s gone.

“I thought, I’m going to make sure he goes to everything we do,” she said. “That way, he sees he’s not forgotten through any of it.”

This spring, the members of Alpha Battery, 1st Battalion, 151 Field Artillery Regiment were deployed to the Middle East to support Operation Inherent Resolve. Alpha Battery got a formal send-off in Marshall in late May. At that time, National Guard spokespeople said Alpha Battery would be deployed for nine months, with soldiers first traveling to Louisiana for training before going overseas.

Nate’s deployment wasn’t a sudden shock, Kala Jacob said. They knew “pretty far out” that he could potentially be deployed. But the news still came with lots of additional work and stress as Nate got ready to leave.

“As it got closer, it got incredibly stressful,” Jacob said.

Jacob knew about the experience of deployment from a soldier’s perspective – she had served in the Army in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“I understood the frustrations and concerns that come with it,” she said. But she hadn’t had the experience of being the person waiting for a soldier to come home. Plus, Nate’s role and experiences as active-duty National Guard were different than Kala’s were in the Army.

Three months in to Nate’s deployment, Jacob said she’s focused on taking care of their children and home.

“The hardest part has been . . . he’s not here, and it is a really weird feeling,” Jacob said. At the same time, the stress of deployment is a lot greater for soldiers, she said.

“They have a lot going on over there,” Jacob said. “It’s not just hard on us. It’s insanely hard on them.”

Nate’s family in the Tracy area have been a been a big source of support while he’s deployed, Jacob said. “When I need help or something, they’re right there,” she said. “They’re all incredible.”

The area Family Readiness Group for the National Guard, and area community members have also helped provide support, Jacob said. A lot of people in the Tracy area knew Nate, she said.

One thing that has changed a lot since Kala was deployed is that it has become easier for family to communicate with soldiers overseas. They are able to use a secure messaging app for chats or video calls, she said.

“Definitely the biggest hurdle besides the distance, is the time change. They’re eight hours ahead of us,” she said. But even with the time zone difference between the Middle East and Minnesota, she said, “He’s more accessible than it would have been a decade-plus ago.”

Jacob said that she and her children Matilyn, 5, and Hunter, 2, have been finding ways to stay connected with Nate while he’s deployed. They’ve been counting down the days until Nate comes home by coloring in calendar printouts.

“Every night we do a square,” she said. Jacob said she’s also been collecting things to scrapbook for Nate, and finding ways to show Nate people were thinking of him while he was gone. At Box Car Days, many people recognized the cutout of Nate and came over to talk, she said.

“It was astounding, the number of people that came up to sign it,” she said. “There were people I had no idea who they were.”

Jacob said there are ways that people can help support families of soldiers deployed overseas. Being flexible and understanding that families are dealing with a lot can be helpful. But the big thing is just reaching out, she said.

“Just ask them, ‘Do you need something?'” Jacob said. Even if the answer is no, that family member knows they could reach out to you later on, she said.