FORT BRAGG, N.C. (WNCN) — As thousands of additional troops are set to deploy to the Middle East, many from Fort Bragg, we talked with a Fayetteville mom whose husband is one of the paratroopers overseas right now. 

April Shumard’s husband Glen has deployed twice to Afghanistan, but he’s never left so abruptly as this deployment. 

“It just happened so fast,” Shumard said. 

He was on leave for Christmas, but had to leave New Year’s Day, along with hundreds of other paratroopers who are part of the Immediate Response Force. 

“It happens whenever it’s going to happen you can’t control it, so I think the worst part of that is when you don’t get to say goodbye,” Shumard said.

April’s in San Diego with her daughter for a medical procedure, so she had to rely on friends in Fayetteville to care for her other children since her husband had to leave right away. 

“To have your partner be gone and not be able to prepare for it, it’s just really hard,” Shumard said. 

Glen is spending his birthday Friday overseas while his wife does her best to keep things together back home.

“When all this stuff starts going down nobody really understands the severity of it until it all plays out, it’s good to be as supportive as you can to any military family I would say.”