"He's my hero," said Lori Lidyard, wife of Master Sgt. Brian Lidyard. "We are in this together, always."
The two high school sweethearts have been married for 32 years, since they were just 18 years old. Together they have raised three sons and have spent three decades serving the country as a proud military family.
When he couldn't find a job in 1981, Lidyard joined the Air Force Reserves, specifically the 446th Airlift Wing at McChord Field, where he's worked in the wing's aircraft maintenance squadron for the past 31 years.
Since 2002, the master sergeant has deployed ten times to various locales ranging from Germany to Afghanistan, typically for three to six months at a stretch.
"It has been a long journey, but I'm grateful for the military time," Lori said. "We married so young and didn't have our own backbones, but his being deployed so much forced me to grow into my own person. Now our relationship is stronger because of those times."
In addition to personal growth, Lidyard's career has also allowed his family to utilize his GI Bill benefits.
In 2011, Lori, who teaches art and leadership at Cascade Christian High School in Puyallup, completed her undergraduate degree in social psychology at the University of Washington. Now the driven spouse - who was just nominated for Educator of the Year in Puyallup - is contemplating her master's degree and a new career as a counselor.
"At 50, she now knows what she wants to do," joked Lidyard. But jokes aside, it was her many accomplishments that motivated him to nominate her for the 2012 446th AW Spouse of the Year award, which she won.
"I was overwhelmed at the young people receiving awards for great things," she said of the awards banquet. "For me, that was better than receiving my own medallion ... though I still love mine."
For the last 12 years, Lidyard has also worked at Boeing as a functional test technician and praised the company for their support with regard to his Reservist duties.
"They are over and above supportive," said Lidyard, who actually volunteered for many of his deployments. "Boeing and my family made it easy to keep going."
"I could call anyone at Boeing when he was gone and they were just amazing," added Lori.
However, deployments are done for this family since Lidyard has submitted paperwork for retirement and is looking to hang up his uniform by September.
"The great thing about having someone in the unit like Lidyard for so long is that he's had the time to mentor and groom some of the younger guys," said Master Sgt Jake Chappelle, 446th AW Public Affairs officer.
So what advice do these two deployment veterans have for other military couples?
"You need to have faith, first and foremost. You also need to live it day-by-day - don't get caught up in the past or focus too much on the future," she said. "That's how to survive and persevere throughout the deployments."
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