When politicians and commentators talk about the high monetary costs of war, they sometimes foget the cost of the disruption at home caused by the sudden deployment of troops.
Such is the case in Plainsboro, where Army reservist and Plainsboro resident Joe Muniz prepares to leave on Sunday, February 7, for a tour in Iraq. His wife, Jackie, his two sons, and many friends from the community will miss him. “Joe is a coach, mentor, and friend to dozens of WW-P kids,” says Steve Rome, who works with him in the West Windsor Wolverine Wrestling Program. “Joe is a volunteer coach for Wildcat football in the fall and in the winter lends a hand assisting the High School South wrestling program. He is a difference maker and pivotal force in our Wolverine program. Parents love him. His fellow coaches respect and admire him. And the kids walk through walls for him.”
“I’ve been volunteering for several years now and never have I seen someone who is so upbeat, hard working, passionate, and yet comforting to all around him,” adds Rome. “In times like these, we need heroes more than ever. And for many of us Joe is one of ours.”
Muniz says that the military and coaching go hand-in-hand. He feels honored not only to serve his country, but his community as well. “Being an athlete has played so much of a role in my life and continues to play a huge role in my life that I’m very honored to bring that same experience to the children of Plainsboro and West Windsor.”
Muniz grew up in Piscataway; his father is a union plumber who also volunteered with Pop Warner football, and his mother is a dental assistant. Growing up, Muniz played football and wrestled. “There is no greater feeling that the competitiveness and the camaraderie that you get out of being part of an organized sport as a young person,” Muniz said. “As an adult now, I get that same level of competitiveness and camaraderie through the military. It’s the same team concept.”
He decided to go into the army when he was in high school. He had to wait until he got his high school diploma before enlisting. “I had an uncle when I was little, who was in the first conflict in the Gulf War,” Muniz recalled. “I remember writing him letters and deciding early on in my life that this was something I was going to do.”
He and Jackie, who attended the same high school, were married just three days before 9/11, and just prior to his military career taking off. He was stationed in Maryland right after September 11 through 2003. They now have two sons, Joseph and Steven, who both attend Town Center Elementary.
In 2003, the family moved to Plainsboro, and he joined them in 2004. In 2005 he was sent for his first tour in Afghanistan, where he spent the next 14 months. His unit, the 328 Engineer Company of the Army, was charged with patrolling supply routes in Afghanistan to ensure they were not booby-trapped.
Back in Plainsboro, he got involved with sports in the community when his oldest son wanted to play flag football with the West Windsor-Plainsboro Wildcats in 2007. This year is his first year with the WW-P Wolverines wrestling program because it is the first year his son is eligible to play because of his age. “I grew up playing youth sports my entire life in Piscataway, so it was important to me to make sure my sons were involved, and I was equally involved,” Muniz said.
“I find that Plainsboro is a much more academic community for the children, and a lot of time, sports take the back seat, which they probably should,” he said. “Growing up, my focus was always on athletics. Athletics are what motivated me to do well in school because if I didn’t get good grades, I couldn’t play. I still have that same passion for sports now.”
Muniz’s Reserve unit has been activated, and he will first head to Wisconsin to prepare for deployment to Iraq. He said that while he is away, he will miss the opportunity to watch his sons and the children he has coached, grow and compete next season.
And “with deployment, there is always a certain level of anxiety, more for the unexpected,” said Muniz. “I’ve been to Afghanistan. I haven’t been to Iraq. There is a lot of preparation as a sergeant, and there is a lot of work involved with just getting over to Iraq: making sure that all my soldiers have what they need, and not only my family, but that my soldiers’ families are going to be taken care of while I am away.”
Meanwhile, his wife, a cost and price analyst by day, is the vice president of the Family Readiness group, helping to get the families of other deployed soldiers together for events. “We’re pretty fortunate,” he said. “We have a very close family, and as the kids get older, they have a lot of friends.”
For Muniz, remaining optimistic and upbeat is natural. “It’s hard not to be optimistic when you have such a great group of people around you,” he said.
