Bangor airman deploys overseas Guard counselor off to Saudi Arabia

BANGOR – Maj. Rick Bach was roused from his sleep early Tuesday morning, but his call to duty did not come from the Air Force. It came from his 10-year-old son, Nathan, who was sick to his stomach in bed.

The next time Bach’s head hit a pillow, it was probably undersized, understuffed and issued by an airline.

That’s because Bach, a member of the Maine Air National Guard, flew out of Bangor International Airport early Tuesday afternoon to begin his four-month deployment to Saudi Arabia.

“We have done this before,” Heidi, Bach’s wife, said as her eyes brimmed with tears in the BIA terminal. “But not for this period of time.”

In addition to Heidi and the couple’s four children, Bach and two other airmen who were also deploying had an entourage of Guard members and volunteers who lined the terminal hallway to bid them all farewell.

Rick’s deployment will create a void in the Bach home that will be felt in every Guard family’s home in the state.

Bach serves as the youth specialist for the Guard in Augusta and has dedicated the past year of his life to Guard families throughout the state. He coordinated the summer camp for Guard children last year, organized numerous activities during which Guard children could share stories, and he helped organize a conference aimed to help educators better relate to military children, especially during a parent’s deployment.

But after receiving a call from Washington D.C., Bach agreed to deploy to Saudi Arabia to handle moral and welfare issues in the country by providing life skills and conflict resolution counseling.

Bach has worked at Camp Keyes for a year, strengthening the youth services program, utilizing his background in education and counseling. A former principal at Bangor Christian Academy, Bach brought his educational experience to a program that had already developed the “fun” activities, according to Sgt. Barbara Claudel, state Guard family program coordinator, said.

“It takes a year to make a program like that, and he’s still in transition,” Claudel said. “There’s definitely going to be a void that we’ll miss, but he has laid a good groundwork and has kept good documents.”

Claudel’s husband, Slater Claudel, who is retired from the Army, will cover Bach’s position part time, but the remainder of the duties will fall to volunteers. The youth program will change due to Bach’s deployment, but Claudel said Bach would return in time to work the summer camp.

While Bach is accustomed to being the support network for Maine Guard families and his own, he will look to his family for support during his own deployment.

“He’s pretty much the rock-hard base of our family,” Josh, 19, Bach’s son, said. Josh, a freshman at the University of Maine in Orono and the family’s eldest child, will move back home to Bangor with his mom to keep the house running and become a “glorified taxi” service for his siblings.

“My kids are great and it’s a big sacrifice for Josh to leave his independence and move back in to help out,” Heidi, his wife, said. “It’s reassuring for Rick to see, though.”

The past few weeks, Bach admitted he hasn’t been able to focus, due to stress. Last week he went to pick up his daughter after cheerleading practice, but when Becca, 12, wasn’t waiting for him outside the school he realized Heidi had already collected her.

“It’s different,” Bach said of his firsthand deployment experience. Rather than counseling spouses and children suffering from separation anxiety, he said he’s now the one relying on photos to spur fond memories.

“I’m definitely going to miss my family horribly,” Bach said. “But I have a lot of photos.”