Hernando County commissioner Jeff Holcomb, who is in the Navy Reserve, is set to deploy soon.
- Hernando County commissioner Jeff Holcomb, who is in the Navy Reserve, to be deployed on May 20th
- He's heading to Southwest Asia for 6 to 12 months
- This will be his first deployment overseas
Holcomb is busy getting things in order. The county commissioner will be taking a leave of absence.
"You know, I want to be that person that says you are safe here tonight on my watch," Holcomb said. "That's one of the things that's important to me."
Holcomb is an intelligence officer and he's heading to Southwest Asia for six to 12 months. This will be his first deployment overseas.
View Commissioner Holcomb's announcement of his deployment:
"I'm proud, I'm honored, I'm ready to go," he said. "I want to do what I need to do for this country to protect the people here."
Holcomb, who has a wife and two daughters, plans to keep involved in county government as much as he can while he's away.
"Ten years ago I signed up knowing that this was a possibility," Holcomb said.
County Administrator Len Sossamon said things won't be the same without commissioner Holcomb around.
"I was in the service a long time ago," Sossamon said. "I'm a good bit older than Jeff so I am very proud of anybody that decides they want to do this."
"There are many before me that have done this and many after that will do it so I can keep that in the back of my mind," Holcomb said.
Holcomb ships out on May 20.