Long Groundhog Day coming to end for deployed 931st member

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  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Today is Groundhog Day. For Maj. Martha Kuder, so was yesterday. And the day before that. And the week before that. And the month before that.

Major Kuder deployed in September to Southwest Asia, where 24-hour operations seven days a week can make an Airman feel like Bill Murray in the movie "Groundhog Day." So much so, the way deployed life imitates the comedic art of Murray repeating the same day over and over, and over again, is a running joke.

"You really need to see this (movie)," Major Kuder told her son before he deployed with his Army unit to Iraq in November. "Everybody over here refers to it."

Major Kuder's cycle in the sand ends in early February. Someone else will take over as the executive officer of the 379th Expeditionary Operations Group and she will return as a performance manager for the 931st Air Refueling Group.

I've learned so much," she said via telephone Monday. "The importance of doing the job well has a whole different meaning to me now."

On a typical day, more than 160 aircraft takeoff or land from Major Kuder's location. Her unit contains the world's largest KC-135 Stratotanker squadron in combat. Operations tempo there is extremely high and she's seen firsthand how the actions of all Airmen, deployed and stateside, can help or hinder the mission.

If aircraft maintenance personnel back home just do the minimum to keep a KC-135 flying, for example, they increase the risk of that aircraft breaking when it deploys.

Major Kuder urged Airmen to think of the bigger picture in a commentary she wrote while deployed.

"No member of the U.S. military should ever let anyone say they did not directly contribute because they have not deployed," she wrote. "We all contribute each and every day. We are the ones who choose if the contribution is positive or negative."

The people working with Major Kuder have been surprisingly positive, she said, despite long hours, tough conditions, and family separations.

"There's not a lot of whining," she said. "If you need something, you get it pretty quick. People are willing to help."

There is one Airman in particular, a B-1B Lancer pilot, Major Kuder said she'll likely never forget. She attended the ceremony for the pilot's promotion from the rank of major to lieutenant colonel. The pilot shared a story during the ceremony about a soldier he met during a flight back to the United States.

The soldier asked him why he asked so many detailed questions. The major told the soldier he was a bomber pilot. They soon realized they had been in the same battle. A B-1 protected the soldier's unit from attack.

"I'm alive because of you," the soldier told him. That was the part of the story when the new lieutenant colonel couldn't keep the tears back, Major Kuder said.

There's a certain camaraderie developed during deployment. Major Kuder will miss that.

She'll also miss the humor that makes deployments easier, she said. "Groundhog Day" references. British troops placing a reflective belt around their jet to say that yes, they're in compliance, and yes, they are part of the team too.

She's not going to miss those belts, however, having to wear them in the middle of the night just to go outside to the bathrooms. She's not going to miss the small living quarters.

"I'm just going to enjoy being home," she said about her immediate plans for her return, "where you have an actual couch to lay on and more than a 10 by 10 room (to live in)."

Another advantage to going home: her next Groundhog Day is now a year away.