ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Brandon Patty didn’t anticipate the decision.
As a Naval Reserve officer, Patty’s common dedication includes one weekend a month and two weeks a 12 months. However this time, his orders have been involuntary.
“The Navy Reserve Heart known as, and I believed it was about an overdue journey voucher,” Patty recalled. “They stated, ‘No sir, that is the Navy Reserve with notification for involuntary mobilization.’”
The timing was a shock for his household. Patty was within the midst of operating for reelection as Clerk of the Circuit Courtroom and Comptroller for St. Johns County. His spouse stepped in to deal with marketing campaign duties whereas he ready to deploy. He in the end was stationed in Kuwait, forsaking his household, together with his three younger boys.
“It was a busy time for us,” he stated. “We have been gearing up for a reelection marketing campaign. My spouse opened a second retailer. After which there’s our three boys, two of them simply 4 and a couple of.”
Whereas in Kuwait, Patty’s work was a part of Operation Inherent Resolve, specializing in defeating ISIS. He described the mission as complicated but essential.
“It’s a worthwhile combat,” he stated. “Not front-page information, however the women and men there proceed to comprise ISIS on a day-to-day foundation.”
Patty additionally witnessed the heightened tensions between Israel and Hamas, experiencing the consequences of ongoing battle firsthand.
“Our mission could be very targeted on ISIS,” he stated. “It’s the ISIS combat. It’s defeating ISIS, and it’s nonetheless an ongoing combat. That stated, you’re in a front-row seat,” Patty stated.
He stated returning dwelling got here with some changes.
“Even like this morning, I used to be getting dressed, and the four-year-old requested, ‘I believed we have been completed with missions?’” Patty shared. “And I informed him, ‘No, no extra missions. I’ll be again to select you up from faculty.’”
Now again in his function on the Clerk’s Workplace, Patty is making use of the management classes he realized throughout his deployment to his work.
Patty swears in Tuesday after being reelected because the Clerk of Courts and County Comptroller.
“There have been so many classes in management,” he stated. “I’m at all times trying to get higher, and I feel it can assist this workplace proceed to serve the general public.”
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