Ready for duty

Once she found out she was being sent to the Texas-Mexico border, Texas Army National Guard Spc. Danielle Gagné said she learned who her true friends are.

“My real friends said, ‘What can I do to help you?’ ” Gagné, 24, said. “Everybody else said, ‘Can I have your house?’ That really got on my nerves.”

Gagné, who joined the National Guard in August 2001 in her native New Jersey, learned Wednesday that she would have to report Monday to Austin. There she’ll learn where along the border she’ll be deployed.

This time preparation has actually been more difficult for Gagné than it was for her 13-month deployment to Iraq in 1994.

“I was younger, and I was naïve going to Iraq,” she said. “It got me out of a bad situation and into something good.”

She said going to Iraq, where she was a signal operator near Tikrit, got her out of a bad relationship and gave meaning to her life. It was where she met some members of the 133rd Field Artillery unit from Midland.

Although women aren’t allowed to be part of artillery units, she liked the group so much that she decided to move to Texas after coming back to the States.

She joined the 136th Signal Battalion out of San Antonio, because it was the closest unit that women could work with.

The San Antonio battalion meant long monthly trips. And for a girl from a small town, it meant getting around a large city.

“I’m sitting there going, ‘How many levels does a highway need?’ ” she said.

And after getting a job with Civigenics jail management service, enrolling in classes at Midland College and finding a place to live, Gagné said getting up and leaving is trickier this time.

In less than a week, she’s had to find people to take care of her house and belongings, as well as her three dogs — Texas, Jersey and Fred.

As tricky as getting ready to head to the border has been, Gagné said returning after a year could be just as difficult.

“In a way it really sucks that I have to leave for a year, and come back and reestablish myself,” she said.

In the end, Gagné decided to rent her Odessa house to a former boyfriend. Robert Peevy will be responsible for the dogs, too.

Gagné said it was best to trust the home to someone who was familiar with it.

“It kind of seemed like the right thing to do,” she said.

Peevy said his two sons will enjoy having the yard. He also looks forward to helping his friend, who he wishes well on her border work.

“It’s kind of sad, but it’s kind of exciting,” he said. “I’m glad it’s not Iraq.”

Although she doesn’t know where in Texas she’ll be stationed or what she’ll be doing, Gagné will be getting a furnished apartment while on the border.

As for the task at hand, she isn’t sure how assisting U.S. Customs and Border Protection with immigration will compare with her time in Iraq.

“I really haven’t been there to make a judgment on which is worse,” she said. “I’m sure if I ask two different people, they’ll say (two different answers).”