Military moxie: band of brothers and their mother all serving their country

Tamera “Tammy” Wobshall never imagined she could return to military service at 44 and serve at the same time as her four sons: Trent, Travis, Tyler and Trevor.

She had served in the U.S. Army for eight years and took part in Operation Desert Storm.

“I’ve always missed it,” she said. “Once it’s in your blood, It never leaves.”

 Now a licensed practical nurse with Northwest Family Medicine, Tammy thought that era of her life had ended until she talked to Sgt. 1st Class Tavia Syme, a local recruiter for the Montana Army National Guard. She found out that the Guard subtracts years of active duty, which put her in the running to join.

Tammy hadn’t gone to the recruiter to discuss her future, though.

She went with her son Tyler, now 18, who was exploring military service before graduating from Columbia Falls High School last June.

Syme, who recently was honored as the top Army National Guard recruiter in the nation, eventually signed up Tyler and Tammy to serve a weekend a month and two weeks each summer. She also recruited Tammy’s son, Trent, 24, as a part-time mechanic after he finished a stint in the Army Reserve in Nebraska.

Trevor, 17, was Syme’s latest recruit from the patriotic Wobshall clan. A junior at Columbia Falls High School, he selected signal support system specialist, a communications expert, as his field of first choice.

He leaves for basic training in June.

“It’s a good opportunity to get in while you’re still in high school,” Tammy said. “He’ll get full credit for that time.”

After graduating from high school in 2012, Trevor plans to attend college with an information technology major and as a member of R.O.T.C. He chose service to continue the family tradition while receiving the many benefits such as a college education and health insurance.

“Everybody else was in,” he said with a laugh.

Tammy’s 21-year-old son, Travis, joined the Army in 2007 and served in Iraq in 2009. Since signing up with the guard, Tyler has transferred to active duty as a combat engineer with the Army and expects to deploy to Afghanistan in March.

“He does mine sweeping,” Tammy said.

His impending departure to join the fight made the family’s reunion for  Christmas particularly sweet. This holiday also included a marriage on Dec. 21 when Trent wed Frankie Sizemore.

Trent and his wife expect a baby in July.

“I’ll be a grandma in combat boots,” Tammy said with a laugh.

Travis, who is stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas, arrived the Thursday before Christmas and Tyler arrived on Christmas Eve. Tammy said the family enjoyed a low-key celebration.

“We just kind of hung out,”  she said.

The boys one-upped each other about physical training triumphs while Travis, a tank mechanic, impressed the family with his knowledge of breaching doors with a shotgun. Shane Stites, Tammy’s partner of four years, recalled a home demonstration.

“He said ‘You shoot it here, here and here,’” Shane said with a laugh. “I said, ‘I’m not that anxious to get in.’”

 Travis left on Tuesday, driving back to Fort Riley. Tyler was scheduled to fly out Friday for his duty station in Fort Hood, Texas.

The family most likely won’t see him again until his return from Afghanistan at the end of 2011 at the earliest. Tammy said she wishes she could go for him, adding it’s harder seeing her sons in harm’s way than going to war herself during Desert Storm.

“She got emotional when Travis left,” Shane said.

While in Iraq, Travis had a near miss when a bomb exploded, flipping over the vehicle in front of him.

In spite of the danger, Tammy and Shane encouraged the boys to consider serving in the military. She shared how the Army helped her make lifelong friends and see the world while learning to be flexible, organized and self confident.

“We encouraged them, but it was always their decision,” Tammy said. “I think it’s great training.”

She admits she joined the Army in August 1984 mainly to escape the confines of her small hometown of Central City, Neb. Tammy had a job without much future after graduating from high school in 1983.

“I was working at the Dairy Queen and I needed to do something,” she said. “I went active Army as a motor-vehicle operator.”

During her Army career, she met and married her first husband and had three of her four boys. Tyler was born in January 1992, just before she got out in April.

Because of a force reduction after Desert Storm, Tammy couldn’t re-enlist. She and her husband settled in Minnesota for six years until they separated and she returned to Central City and took nursing training.

“That’s where the boys grew up,” she said.

Tammy also reconnected with Shane, her childhood friend since the sixth grade. Together, they decided to move to Montana, where Tammy had dreamed of living since visiting her aunt here when she was 17.

Tyler and Trevor, also feeling confined by Central City, readily agreed and the family moved to the Flathead in February 2009. Recruiter Syme changed the direction of their lives.

Shane recalled how excited Tammy was to learn she had another chance to serve and receive education benefits to pursue her dream of becoming a physician’s assistant. He supported her decision and takes pride in her accomplishments.

“She went on the Biggest Loser Diet and lost 25 pounds,” he said. “She’s in great physical shape.”

Tammy easily met the physical requirements and became a member of HHC 495th CSSB in August with full support from the physicians who employ her. She exceeded the guidelines for her age group in recent physical testing.

“I maxed the pushups,” she said. “Being 45, I had to do 12 and I did 40. I’m hoping I can max my PT test in April.”

 Her first drills were a little intimidating since most of the people were younger. She said she had much to learn like combative moves that weren’t taught to women when she went through basic training.

 But she also retained many of the military basics even after 18 years away.

“It was weird to put the uniform back on and pin my hair up,” Tammy said with a laugh.

She hopes not to get deployed but said it would be less stressful now that her sons are grown. During Desert Storm, relatives cared for the boys when she and her first husband went to the Middle East.

Tammy has only praise for Syme’s work recruiting her and three of her four boys into the Montana Army National Guard. She said recruiters from other branches of the service were pushy when they came to talk to her sons.

Shane added that Syme doesn’t look at everyone like a number to fill her recruiting goals.

“She’s actually honest with you,” Tammy said. “She talks to you as a friend and as a person saying ‘This is what I can do for you.’ I’d recommend her to anyone.”

Travis, the one Wobshall Syme didn’t recruit into the Montana Army National Guard, may go to see her when he finishes his Army hitch if he doesn’t go to work for BNSF Railway Co.

Tammy said her sons have pride in their accomplishments with the military. Both she and Shane noticed a particular transformation in Tyler.

Shane said he turned into “a neat young man.”  Tammy said that her 6-foot, 2-inch tall son walked with a slump before basic training.

“Now he stands tall,” she said.

 Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.