Student stands ready to serve

As the United States prepares for war against Iraq, more than 1,000 Wisconsin National Guard members, including students and employees from UW–Madison and the UW System, have been called to active duty. Others face that possibility. The call-ups could last as long as one or two years.

Braden Duszynski of Madison, a junior in the School of Business, could be called up. The 24-year-old joined the Wisconsin Air National Guard in 1998 after his first semester at UW-Whitewater. Assigned to the 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field, he had wanted to serve in the military since childhood and knew the Guard would enable him to simultaneously attend college and serve his country.

“It offers many benefits for college students, which was a factor,” Duszynski says. “But I also knew it would give me a chance to gain valuable life experience and meet a variety of people, both of which I’ve benefited from beyond my expectations.”

His experience has taught him the value of teamwork in stressful situations. He has learned to work with people from diverse backgrounds.

“You learn that these barriers can be overcome, and it’s an experience I don’t think can be duplicated anywhere else with the same effectiveness,” he says.

Since he completed basic training, Duszynski has missed four semesters of college due to military service. The last interruption came after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He is taking in stride the possibility of his university career going on hold again.

“While I’m enjoying my classes and would obviously be inconvenienced by a call-up, I’m quite prepared for what may happen,” says Duszynski, a staff sergeant in aircraft maintenance.

“It is, after all, exactly the purpose of the institution I joined, and I haven’t lost sight of that. On 9/11, I remember going to class and asking myself, “What am I doing studying business law at a time like this?’ I really wanted to be a part of what was going to happen next.

“Now that a lot of the emotion has subsided, I still feel the same commitment. No rational thinking person should ever wants to go to war, but it’s done out of duty and commitment.”

Duszynski realizes the importance of people’s constitutional right to protest and says he would fight to ensure they could continue to have that right. “I have a hard time understanding what the point of the recent protests is. … History has proven time and again that war is the only way to avoid other, more undesirable outcomes. If they don’t agree with that statement, they’ve taken for granted that they are still living in a constitutional republic.”