Part-Time Soldiers Give Just as Much as Full-Time Soldiers

When National Guardsmen join the ranks, they`re not signing up for full-time military just yet. But recent attacks in Iraq killed 5 soldiers, showing they`re giving much more than just the 38 days a year, they`ve promised. That brings the total number of Arkansas soldiers killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom to 13, 6 of them were guardsmen. Captain Arthur "Bo" Felder was one of them. "He was a mentor, a father, a friend to the students, and he`ll be greatly missed," said Joy Cogshell, Felder`s fellow teacher at Step One Alternative Day School in Little Rock. His death leaves not only family and fellow soldiers to grieve, but his co-workers from his full-time civilian job. "I recognize how much we would miss him as a staff and the students, because he`s affected a lot of lives," said his administrator at Step One, P.H. Gilkey. When he wasn`t Captain Felder on the front lines, he was Mr. Felder in the classroom. Co-workers at his chool say he mastered both professions. "An excellent teacher, he was probably one of the best we`d have," said Gilkey. "He really identified with the kids." Thousands of soldiers serving in Iraq are National Guardsmen also: full-time civilians, part-time soldiers, signing on to serve their country one weekend a month and two weeks a agyer. "They get the opportunity to serve the state and the country and then have a civilian life," said Sergeant First Class Greg Slawson. For some it is the best of both worlds. "Sometimes if you do a 20-year career with us, you will deploy sometime, but as a soldier, that`s what we do," said Slawson. But in times like these, Captain Felder becomes not only a fallen soldier, but a lost teacher. Arkansas has about 4,000 guardsmen on deployment, serving in Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The camp says the last time so many guardsmen were deployed at once was during the Korean War.