Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Brad and Carrie Husnik met in the military and fell in love in the military. Now, just two months since their marriage, the Forest Lake couple is facing a military separation that is likely to last 18 months and take Carrie Husnik to Iraq.

As long-time military veterans with the Minnesota Army National Guard -- Brad has been in 17 years and Carrie 10 years -- the Husniks are well prepared to accept their military obligations.

This is the third voluntary deployment for Capt. Carrie Husnik, a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the 1256th Medivac Unit based at Holman Field in St. Paul. She left on Saturday, March 10 for advanced training at Fort Sill, OK, and will be sent to Iraq later this year.

Brad Husnik is a Chief Warrant Officer 3 with the Army National Guard Detachment 39 at Holman Field. His duty involves piloting an Army C-12 plane that is used to shuttle military VIPs and on occasion, top state officials.

Starting Saturday, Brad Husnik became the sole caretaker for the couple's two dogs and their home in Forest Lake.

Military marriage

Brad Husnik had been in the Guard flying helicopters for seven years when he first met Carrie Hanson of Plymouth in October of 1999. The two became friends but did not date until 2003 while both were on a stateside deployment in support of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Brad's unit was involved in training fellow Guard members and some active-duty troops at Fort Sill and Fort Riley in Kansas.

Carrie Husnik, fresh off a six-month deployment to Bosnia in 2003 where she flew Blackhawks, joined the stateside deployment.

Carrie and Brad Husnik on their return from a Minnesota Army National Guard deployment in 2004. They served at bases in Kansas and Oklahoma as Blackhawk helicopter pilots.

"We started dating long distance," Carrie said last week as she wrapped up details at home before leaving for Oklahoma.

The couple became serious about spending their lives together during the course of the two-year courtship. As the war continued to carry on in Iraq and Afghanistan, the couple learned late last year that Carrie would be asked to use her talents as a military intelligence officer and Blackhawk pilot in Operation Enduring Freedom.

After completing 18 months of flight school at Fort Rucker, AL, in 2003, she is well trained for her assignment and has logged 700 hours plus flying Blackhawks.

Faced with the deployment, the two enjoyed a 34-day engagement. They were married by Judge Susan Miles in her Stillwater court chambers on Jan. 5, 2007 with immediate family members on hand.

With their bond of life and love forged in the military, the two agreed it was the time to make the commitment.

"It gives me a sense of security," Carrie said last week as she prepared to leave her husband of two months.

Carrie's deployment is expected to continue until late into 2008. She is likely to be involved in flying combat medivac missions somewhere in the war zone.

The uncertainty of military life could play another mean trick on the couple in 2009.

Although it is not a certainty, Brad Husnik's 39th Detachment is on the rotation for a deployment of its own.

The Holman Field unit could be assigned to an airbase somewhere outside of Iraq, perhaps in Kuwait. The unit would be used to move key military officials and brass into and around in Iraq.

In the air

The anxiety of a military separation is the bitter pill the two must swallow, but both understand they probably would not be together today had it not been for flying.

At 34, Brad Husnik has been around airplanes and flying since he was a little boy flying with his parents, Sam and Sandy Husnik of Forest Lake. He was 14 or 15 when he was first old enough to pilot a plane alongside his father.

The Guard was a natural career path for Husnik. When he is not serving his country, he has made flying his vocation.

He works as a helicopter pilot for North Memorial Air Care, based in Princeton and flies medical missions to accident and emergency scenes in the metro area, including Fairview Regional Medical Center in Wyoming.

As far as his Guard duty, he is pleased by his change of assignment to the C-12s after many years of flying Blackhawks.

"I just enjoyed being around helicopters but I'll finish my Guard career flying airplanes," he said.

How long that career will continue is something he will decide later on. He will stay for the full 20 years but is not ready to commitment beyond that length of service.

"How to balance career employment, the Guard and family life?" Those are the questions he says he must answer in determining how long he remains in the Guard.

Like many civilian soldiers, Husnik says a steady diet of new Guard deployments to support the war effort may be a factor in his future plans.

Carrie Husnik is also not locked in to a long term military service but has four years remaining of an eight-year commitment to honor.

She joined the Army National Guard while a junior at Maple Grove High School under the delayed entry program. After high school, she continued her National Guard duty while attending Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

She earned degrees in criminal justice, pre-medicine and pre-veterinary medicine. She envisions working with animals one day.

For now, Carrie Husnik will continue to train for her deployment to Iraq. It is something that goes with the territory, she says, adding that she is honored to serve her country.

The life the newlyweds plan will come in due time, she says, including the honeymoon the two were not able to take.

And for now, it will be Brad's job to hold down the homefront and continue working with his Guard unit here.

Such is the duty for a marriage made in the military.

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