Jefferson City couple deploys together

Sgt. Tracina Harrison and Staff Sgt. Ronell Harrison prepare to conduct combat lanes training for mobilization to Kuwait.

1st Lt. Kerri Brantley

Saturday, June 23, 2012

FORT HOOD, TEXAS — One of the toughest challenges for military marriages is the glaring truth that deployments create separation.

However, that is not the case for two Missouri National Guard soldiers — Staff Sgt. Ronell Harrison, a 12-year veteran serving as a flight operations specialist, and Sgt. Tracina Harrison, a 10-year veteran serving as a human resource specialist for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 35th Combat Aviation Brigade heading to Kuwait.

The Jefferson City couple met at Fort Carson, Colo., during a brigade-wide annual training in June 2004. They quickly became friends while hanging out with the same group of comrades.

From September 2005 through December 2006, the pair endured their first deployment together to Balad, Iraq. During that deployment, the couple realized there was more than a friendship evolving.

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