Last modified: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 10:57 AM PST Spc. Valerie Dean (left) talks with her husband, Capt. Brian Dean, during a training exercise at Gowen Field south of Boise in August. The married couple serve in the Oregon Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry. The 3rd Battalion consists of units from across eastern, central and western Oregon. A military marriage By Pat Caldwell Argus Observer GOWEN FIELD, ID. — When most couples prepare to take on a major project at work, they usually do so individually. Not Brian and Valerie Dean. At least, not really. Brian Dean is a captain in Eastern Oregon’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry, Oregon Army National Guard and commands Baker City’s citizen-soldier unit. His wife, Valerie, is a Specialist assigned to the 3rd Battalion’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company in La Grande. When their firm — in this case, the 3rd Battalion — faces a major project like an annual training cycle at the Orchard Training Area south of Boise, they share the burden. The Deans are, at first glance, a picture in opposites. He’s tall. She’s short. He’s an officer. She is a member of the enlisted ranks. Valerie Dean, 30, deals with administrative issues in her job in La Grande, while Brian Dean commands Fox Company, the biggest unit in the 3rd Battalion. Yet they share a common bond, not only as a married couple, but as two people linked by Eastern Oregon’s Guard unit. “It (being in the same unit) does not bother either of us because we work well together,” Valerie Dean said. They share some similarities, too. They live in La Grande, they’ve both served overseas in a combat zone, they’re married and both have performed in Eastern Oregon’s Guard unit for a number of years. The 3rd Battalion consists of Oregon Army Guard units in Woodburn, Redmond, Prineville, The Dalles, Hood River, Hermiston, Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City and Ontario. Longtime dedication Brian Dean, 33, has been a member of the National Guard for more than 14 years. He started out as an enlisted man before he decided to join the officer corps. Now, as commander of the 3rd Battalion’s Fox Company, Brian Dean is in charge of all the smaller outfits that provide support for the battalion. Dean is at the helm of a 200-plus man unit that furnishes food, fuel, ammunition and mechanics for the 3rd Battalion. The battalion is a cavalry unit, but there are no horses. Instead Eastern Oregon’s citizen-soldier outfit trains to fight in tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. A typical tank company in the battalion musters between 60 and 70 people. “I have soldiers spread through 14 different armories,” he said. “It’s a huge responsibility.” For the Deans, their 3rd Battalion link evolved slowly over time. The Deans were married two years before Valerie began to seriously ponder joining the 3rd Battalion. “It was something I always wanted to do. I went to a drill and fell in love with the soldiers,” Valerie Dean said. Valerie Dean said joining the ranks of the 3rd Battalion helped bridge the gap between her civilian background and her husband’s military tasks. “It used to be really hard until I joined because I didn’t understand a lot of what he said,” Valerie Dean said. Shortly after Valerie Dean completed basic training in 2003, she and her husband were faced with another special challenge: deployment. In mid-2004, the 3rd Battalion joined its parent unit, Idaho’s 116th Brigade Combat Team, on a deployment to northern Iraq. Both Deans deployed together, though they were in separate units. The deployment put a different kind of strain on their family, and both said the experience changed them. “We both understand that being here tomorrow or being crippled depends on what truck you’re on,” Brian Dean said. The randomness of combat made an impact on both, Brian Dean said. “Because we deployed, I think we appreciate some things in life,” he said. Valerie Dean also said the deployment affected their lives in other ways. For example, she conceded there is a gap of experience earned on the battlefield that can be difficult to explain. “It’s hard to talk to a family member who does not know the things we’ve dealt with,” Valerie Dean said. Still, the deployment also pulled them closer, Brian Dean said. “You got two veterans in the household, and that is a good feeling,” he said. Chain of command One low-key challenge the Deans faced early centered on the Guard’s rules against fraternization between officers and enlisted men and women. The regulations do not strictly apply to the Deans because Valerie was a civilian when she met her husband and joined only after they had been married. Still, Brian Dean said he takes the issue seriously, and so does the Guard. “Right now it’s complicated because I own all the units on this side of the Cascades that allows women,” Brian Dean said. Which, in turn, created challenges regarding exactly where Valerie would serve in the battalion. To erase any issues regarding favoritism and to adhere to regulations, the battalion command placed Valerie Dean in the La Grande unit. “So she’s in my unit, but she’s attached to HHC (Headquarters and Headquarters company in La Grande). So I don’t have any influence over her evaluation or her work schedule,” he said. The second in command of the 3rd Battalion, Maj. Kevin Sheehy, Union, said the move was the right one. “We intentionally moved her from her duties in Fox Company so there would be no conflict. She works for me for the most part here in La Grande,” he said. Brian Dean conceded he takes the chain of command issue seriously. While he said he is pleased to be serving with his wife in the same battalion, he also makes an effort to follow the rules. “I don’t even want the appearance of impropriety,” he said. The separation, though, is beneficial, Brian Dean said. “For me it’s preferable. I feel like I have to focus. Most husbands and wives do not work together. But we have jobs that overlap,” he said. That forces both Brian and Valerie Dean to be more innovative with their time. “You have to be very flexible,” Brian Dean said. Both said their experience in the Guard has paid dividends. “I’ve been doing this a long time. A lot of stuff she goes through, I’ve already went through. She has a good, basic understanding of what it takes to be in the military, the dedication, the focus,” Brian Dean said. “From our standpoint, there is a lot of empathy.” When they do interact, Brian Dean said he is cautious and ensures there is no favoritism. “I’m very straightforward. You know, my attitude (toward Valerie) is ‘Glad you’re here, but I’m going to treat you like any soldier.’ I don’t mean it to sound negative, but I’m very serious about it because I’m trying to set an example,” he said. Both, though, said their experience working in separate units in the 3rd Battalion has been a good one. For Valerie, especially, being part of her husband’s career was a good thing. “When he moved into command, he pretty much made me part of it,” she said.