In the opening of their recently released book, “Twenty-Percent Soldiers: Our Secret Life in the National Guard,” Kevin and Susan Dellicker, of Heidelberg Township, estimate they have been on some kind of military status for one-fifth of their time together as husband and wife.

Switching between Kevin’s military viewpoint and Susan’s civilian perspective, the book details the experiences, anecdotes, memories and impact of over two decades of Army and Air National Guard service including four overseas deployments, 10 stateside missions, 22 formal schools, 24 training exercises and 1,549 days on orders.

The Dellickers spoke with The Press June 19 about their objectives behind writing the book, and to describe their personal experiences as a Guard family.

Kevin Dellicker said the idea started about two years ago as a result of a conversation with Susan about writing an account, as a private citizen, of his service as a “citizen-soldier.”

“Susan suggested that instead of focusing on just the war stories, we should write this together … talking about how a family approaches this together from the unique perspective of the part-time National Guardsmen,” he said.

“We had seen a few books about the family aspect of wartime service, but we weren’t really aware of any books out there that talked about the family aspects of service in a part-time role. That’s what we wanted to focus on.”

Susan Dellicker said she managed the home front when her husband deployed, taking care of the family business - Dellicker Strategies - and especially their three sons - Will, Jacob and Eli.

“We had only one son during his first deployment, two sons during the second deployment and in the third deployment, and then three sons during the fourth deployment,” she said, describing how understanding Kevin’s service changed as her sons grew.

“The first two deployments I didn’t have to manage the emotions and questions of the children as much as I did later on … the later deployments, the kids had questions and understood a little bit about what daddy was doing, and that made for a different set of challenges,” she said. “I don’t know if they understood exactly what [Kevin] was doing, but they understood there was something going on with him that meant he wasn’t 100 percent safe … it was dangerous.”

She recalled a moment described in the book when Jacob used to fear “Salami Balata” - Osama bin Laden, “and he had nightmares about him,” Dellicker said.

“That’s something most young children at that time didn’t have to deal with … That was one of the ways the fear that they were feeling came to light.”

Kevin Dellicker said deployments were, in a sense, the easiest part of his service because “it was really the only time you could focus on one thing,” compared to balancing business, family and the part-time military commitments of Guard service.

“It sort of left the hard part back for [Susan] at home,” he said. “I was there with a whole bunch of people working on the same thing, and Susan was sort of by herself in the middle of the neighborhood that was very supportive with friends and family, but couldn’t really relate to what she was going through.”

This, Dellicker said, relates to one of the book’s main objectives - highlighting the difference in benefits and resources, particularly family support services, available to Guardsmen compared to active duty soldiers.

“I think as a rule, Guard families have to be much more independent and resilient in terms of how they face these challenges,” he said.

While active duty personnel have family support resources available on-base, Dellicker explained how those services are not easily accessible for many Guardsmen and, despite the Guard’s best efforts, proper infrastructure and service resources are lacking.

“On active duty, the military provides it. In the Guard, the member and the family have to build it, they have to cultivate it,” he said, noting that “informal support” networks are one of the most valuable resources for Guardsmen.

Susan Dellicker said for her, “family and friends were the first structure that helped me get through everything,” adding that during Kevin’s second deployment she temporarily moved away to be with her parents.

She also said the family’s neighbors - in Heidelberg Township and at their former home in Weisenberg Township - were a great source of support, as were friends she made at the Sunshine Center Preschool, Breinigsville.

“I met a group of women who would become stalwart friends and were very supportive of me as a single mom. Really, it’s what it boiled down to and those friendships really got me through some tough times,” Dellicker said.

Kevin Dellicker added the Northwestern Lehigh School District also assisted while he was on duty.

He said teachers “were aware of our situation and they were discreet about it. They were supportive of it. They were watching out for our kids when they knew that I was gone.”

Dellicker said “the biggest limiting factor has to do with geography,” noting that many Guard members may live miles away from their unit’s duty station, usually smaller than full-size military bases, where family support programs are organized.

Susan Dellicker said when Kevin was overseas, his unit’s services were held in Harrisburg.

“For me when I was dealing with it, I had two young children at home and I couldn’t drive an hour and a half each way to go to an hour-long briefing or meeting about the deployment, or to have some sort of get-together with the other spouses,” she said.

The Dellickers want to draw attention to providing additional services to Guardsmen comparable to those for active-duty servicemen.

Kevin Dellicker said Guardsmen have access to veteran’s services - county programs, Veterans Affairs and the American Legion, among others - and described how the National Guard is making changes to their family services approach.

“They’re trying to provide family support services where the members live, and not necessarily where they work,” he said, describing how support resources could be based in municipalities and serve local members from all Guard branches, units and reserves.

“I think we’re getting there, and I think the Guard is doing the best that they can. They have good intentions, and it’s a vast improvement from where it was a few years ago,” he said.

In addition to raising awareness about resource issues, Dellicker said he hoped the book could serve as a relatable story for other Guard families, encouraging them to not just survive, but thrive in the part time, full time life of a Guardsmen.

“There were times during that journey that we didn’t think we could make it another day - that I had to get out or something had to change because it was just getting to be too much - but we’ve gotten through reasonably well for 25 years of service,” he said.

“We hope other Guard families can read it and say OK, I can get through this; I can survive this deployment, I can get through this phase of my life where it seems that it’s overwhelming and still play this role of citizen-soldier effectively.”

“It’s a universal story, but we’re telling it on a personal level to try and get the message out - You can thrive as a Guard family,” Susan Dellicker added.

Kevin Dellicker said one of his favorite book sections is devoted to describing the members of his unit, summarizing their jobs and lives outside the Guard.

“You’ve got all these people doing these normal but interesting civilian jobs, and then they come in for duty and they’re going overseas executing special operations missions; it doesn’t sound believable, but it is,” he said, adding that he hopes his account can also be a tribute and acknowledgment to all Guard members’ service.

“Even if people don’t really understand exactly what they’re doing, Guardsmen do.”

Furthermore, the book also seeks to inform readers about the unique role played by the Guard’s “citizen-soldiers,” and Dellicker emphasized how the service may be part-time but requires full-time commitment.

“I think most people just don’t understand what Guardsmen do and how it works - the idea of going away to the combat zone, and then coming home and going right back to work. That seems a little bit fanciful to most people, but it actually happens,” he said, emphasizing the unique stresses Guard service places on a family which may be difficult to comprehend.

He also explained how many servicemen are surprised to learn about Guards members’ lives as “citizen-soldiers,” even as they serve in the same uniform, perform the same duties, and receive the same training as their active duty counterparts.

“We think it’s a story that most people don’t know is happening right in front of their noses by dozens and dozens of guardsmen that live locally, but also all across Pennsylvania and all across the nation,” Dellicker said.

From their experiences with the realities of Guard family life, the Dellickers said they are well-prepared to understand and help Will, now a sophomore at Grove City College and in his third year of service as an Army Guardsman, through his adjustments.

“Will has already experienced that “Guardsman’s Whiplash … ” returning from military service of some length and instantly going back into a civilian situation,” Susan Dellicker explained, referring to a concept described in the book. “It was nice that we were there, Kevin especially, to help him through that.”

In closing, the Dellickers expressed their gratitude to the community - family, friends, neighbors and supporters - who have stood by them during their journey.

“We love this community so much. The entire setting of this thing since we got married and moved back from Texas is in Northwestern [Lehigh] School District, we couldn’t imagine a better place to raise the kids and live this kind of lifestyle,” Kevin Dellicker said. “The fact that there are so many local stories in here was one of the neat things about the book.”

“Susan and I are really honored to do this kind of service and are just very humble and grateful that the community is so supportive of the lifestyle that we live.”

“Twenty-Percent Soldiers: Our Secret Life in the National Guard” is available at Barnes and Noble, and on Amazon at amazon.com/Twenty-Percent-Soldiers-Secret-National-Guard/dp/1646630904.

Proceeds from book sales will support charities including the Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors Inc., PA National Guard Foundation and 193rd Special Operations Wing Association.