Dad, Daughter Deploying to Afghanistan Together

As the child of two Army soldiers, Miranda Mogg grew up moving from place to place, her father often away. Now, the two will get a chance to be together for nine straight months, as they deploy to Afghanistan as members of the same brigade. Miranda, an intelligence analyst, will even be briefing her dad, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Michael Mogg, the master gunner. "For once she gets to tell me what to do," the elder Mogg jokes.

He planned to retire after 29 years, but decided to stay on for his fifth deployment—since it would also be his daughter's first. "If you’re going to go to war, you should go with people you know," Miranda, 21, tells the Watertown Daily Times. But there will be downsides, notes Michael, 47: "If I eat something wrong, she’s going to 'narc' on me" to her mom. But that goes both ways, he adds: “She’s single ... I’m an armed father down range." Their brigade will be deploying in the next month. (More deployment stories.)