Single mom balances son, school, soldiering

  • Published
  • By Sgt. Tracy Ellingsen
  • 304th Sustainment Brigade
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  Though she is the only adult in her household, Spc. Nicole Webb is not the only Soldier; at least that is what her 3-year-old son Jase thinks. Strutting around in his own little Action Combat Uniform, Jase gives orders to children on the playground, talks about tanks, and discusses the finer points of modern warfare like a battle-tested Soldier. For a guy who has yet to enter kindergarten, Jase has seen the ins and outs of the Army since he was born.

Webb has served as a member of the Army's Military Police for six years, including an assignment in Germany and a short stint in the Inactive Ready Reserve. In her current Army Reserve assignment, Webb serves as the lone MP in the 380th Transportation Detachment, headquartered at March ARB. When she is not busy serving her country, Webb is a student with aspirations of becoming a nurse.

Being a full-time mom, full-time student, and part-time Soldier can be a difficult balancing act for Webb, but she has found ways to use her multiple talents to bring order to her life.

"It's helpful that Jase likes the Army because if I need him to do something, like brush his teeth, I can start yelling at him like a drill sergeant and he'll ..." she said before being hit in the face with a flying football thrown by Jase.

Like most military parents, separation, due to training and operations, is one of the hardest parts about being a military mom. When she's on duty, she leaves Jase with her parents or, in a pinch, with her brother and his wife.

Webb also faces a unique challenge when she is away and misses Jase; she can't call him. Even though she would love to talk to her son, the fact that he can hear her but not see her takes an emotional toll on her little Soldier.

"He gets serious anxiety when I'm not around," she said. "I can't call and talk to him or he'll start crying."

Of course, Webb knows that the possibility for deployments and other long-term separations always exists.

"It would be hard to be away from him, but I would be more worried about him missing me," said Webb.

"I think the longest I've had to be away from him was a month when I was mobilized from the IRR when he was two," she said. "I was scared he wouldn't remember me when I came back."