South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is about to lose her husband for a year as he is deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard.
Michael Haley, a first lieutenant, received his orders on Monday and will head off in January, the governor’s spokesman Rob Godfrey confirmed. He will be a liaison between an agricultural unit and Afghan leaders.
'It is important to me to be able to give back,” the father of two said in a statement to
NBC News. “The only thing that gives me pause is the year-long deployment away from family.
“But in the end, I can't help but to think giving one year along with my fellow soldiers, as many have done before me, to secure a life of freedom for my family is well worth all that comes with it.”
Haley — the nation’s youngest governor — said on Monday, “When your family get the call, you have to respond.
“Do you worry? Yes, of course, you worry. ... It’s like what I tell all my military spouses when I speak to other deployments; all needs to be well on the home front. And so we will be fine here, and he just needs to take care of himself, when he’s there.”
Michael Haley works full-time for the National Guard as a federal military technician. His deployment is with a group of specialists from Guard units around the country.
A spokesman for the National Guard told The State newspaper that as far as he was aware this is the first time a spouse of a sitting governor has been deployed to a combat zone.
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