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6/23/2009 3:33 AM

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By Scott Beveridge, Staff writer

sbeveridge@observer-reporter.com

Telephone calls to California University of Pennsylvania's veterans affairs office lately have been cutting straight to its voice mail.

"We are unable to take your call at this time," the female voice on the message says.

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There is good reason for the staff shortage: Its young director has been called to service in Iraq, as have at least 20 Cal U. students.

This amounts to the "largest call-up in support of a single operation at one time for Army National Guard students" in the school's history, said Robert Prah Jr., Cal U.'s new director of veterans affairs.

Prah didn't have much time to settle into his new office last year before he was deployed to Iraq in September. At just 26 years old, Prah also left his post as mayor of Smithton to serve as a military intelligence officer alongside the students with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Camp Taji.

"This call-up has affected the look in both campus and virtual classrooms at California University of Pennsylvania," Prah stated in an e-mail from the desert.

Some of the soldiers knew for months that they were heading to the war zone, while others found out just weeks prior to the start of the fall 2008 term.

"The notice of getting deployed again came as a huge shock for me and my family," Sgt. Justin Wardman told Prah.

Wardman, a police officer in North Huntingdon Township, is close to completing a bachelor's degree, but he ended up taking a leave from the university's online program to serve his country. He has been forced to set aside his studies because of sporadic Internet service where he is stationed.

Spc. Jeremiah Cobb never even had the chance to begin his freshman classes before he was deployed last summer. He received the notice shortly after contacting Prah's office about taking advantage of his National Guard education benefits. Now, he will put off his studies until January.

Meanwhile, Prah expects to return to his job at Cal U. in time for the fall semester.

The university fully expects to accommodate these soldiers after they return home, Cal U. President Angelo Armenti Jr. said.

"Their work is demanding and dangerous, and we will always be indebted to them for their service," Armenti said.

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1 comments

BRING THEM HOME : 6/23/2009
Support our troops -- bring them home to be with their families. Stop the madness and redeploy the dollars.

trippin

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