A father’s duty: Getting ready for a year long deployment.

In less than a month, Tony Traber will say goodbye to his wife and three kids, ages eight, six, and three. It will be over a year until he’ll see them again in person.

A proud member of the Missouri National Guard, Tony has been called to serve in Iraq. At the end of April he’ll leave home for a few months of pre-deployment Combat training, and then he’ll be deployed overseas until the following spring.

“I joined the National Guard as soon as I could after 9/11,” Tony said, “I just wanted to help my country.” Tony is a Signal Company Commander, and he supports full spectrum IT operations for a brigade of Apache and Black Hawk helicopters.

“The Brigade uses everything a corporate company would from data networks, to satellite imaging, and even your standard FM radios,” Tony explained. “They need it all when they’re up in the skies, and it’s my job to keep them connected in the most remote environments.”

At Verizon, Tony is a Client Partner in Verizon Enterprise Solutions (VES). He works to provide clients in manufacturing and energy utilities with the right solutions for their businesses. “I draw from my IT experience in the Army to help with a lot of my sales,” Tony said. “I know a lot about the technology, so I’m able to sell it.”

His sales approach seems to be working. Tony was named a VES President’s Cabinet Winner, and he and his wife got to take a trip to Maui to celebrate.

As active military and a Verizon employee, Tony has always felt supported by his team. “Working in sales has always given me flexibility with my duty to the National Guard,” Tony said. “My supervisors are extremely supportive of my service, and everyone has been wishing me well. It’s great to know there will be a place for me when I come back home.”

But Tony’s place at home will be missed by his whole family. “My kids understand I’m going away to defend our country,” Tony said, “it’s still hard to explain it to them. They don’t count time in months, they count it in birthdays and holidays. So they’ll ask me ‘Daddy, how many birthdays are you going to miss?’”

Thankfully, with the latest technology, he won’t have to miss them completely. “I’m definitely going to be calling in on WhatsApp for every birthday, and every holiday,” Tony said

Military service is a special kind of service and sacrifice.

“Sometime I stop and ask myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Tony said. “And then it always comes back to me thinking about how if I wasn’t doing it, someone else would be over there in my place. It means so much to have the support of my family, my company, and my country.”