KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Cpl. Diane Binette has an advantage over many military spouses whose partners are serving in Afghanistan.
When her husband, Warrant Officer Luc Lacombe, is in the midst of a battle - she knows what is going on. Binette and Lacombe are one of a handful of married couples working within Joint Task Force Afghanistan.
Binette, 40, works as an administration clerk in the Canadian section of Kandahar Airfield and is away from the dangerous areas in southern Afghanistan, while Lacombe works with the Operational Liaison Mentoring Team helping to teach the Afghan National Army.
While Lacombe was embroiled in an offensive against the Taliban in the Arghandab district, north of Kandahar city recently, Binette was kept in the loop.
"I don't know all the details each day but I'm able to know what's happened or where he is and I know there is some operation and he's there," said Binette, getting to actually spend some rare time with her husband during the interview. "Sometimes my supervisor tells us - 'OK, the mission is good and progressing'."
The news isn't always good. On Nov. 17, Cpl. Nicholas Beauchamp of the 5th Field Ambulance and Pte. Michel Levesque of the Royal 22nd died when their light armoured vehicle drove over a landmine. Beauchamp's wife, Cpl. Dolores Crampton was a member of the same unit and learned of her husband's fate almost immediately.
But Binette said she would rather be close by in case anything should happen.
"It's better for me. Maybe for another person it would be worse but for me I prefer to be here and know what happens."
Lacombe, who is also 40, has been in the Canadian forces for 20 years while Binette has been serving for three years. He is happy that his wife is not out on the battlefield.
"I'm the one that goes out as a warrior and she's not," he said happily. "The thing is when you have your spouse at home she's not aware of what's going on here. The thing is when I'm going out she knows most of the time. She knows how it works. If she had been in Canada that would not be the case."
Another problem of being married on the same base is of a little more delicate nature.
Canadian soldiers are subject to a "non-fraternization" policy which means no sex, no kissing and no touching of any kind. Lacombe and Binette live apart - Binette with a group of female soldiers on the base and Lacombe at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar city.
While Binette just smiles and shrugs about the domestic arrangements - Lacombe finds it a bit more difficult.
"To have a temptation you have to have both," chuckled Lacombe. "I am the problem maker right now. I am the guy with the urges. War is a stressful position, I am stressful about everything and I want to get home safe from the mission."
"We find it hard because we can see each other but there's nothing we can do. The rules are very strict and we follow those rules."
Binette said they occasionally get to have a meal together but that is as close as it gets to a normal relationship.
"We are like friends but it's not easy," she admitted.
And it's not as if their friends are going to let them slip up. At this point, a soldier came by, looked at them disapprovingly, wagged his finger at them and laughingly placed a chair between.
"There you go", Lacombe laughed. "They make sure we have a division between us."
The same soldier came back a moment later - this time with a door and placed it between them.
"Make sure you knock before entering," he chuckled.
"They take care of us", said Binette. "They make sure there is no liaison between us. No temptation. We're not allowed to do nothing."
The couple won't be able to go on leave together until after Christmas. But when they are at home together the ranks go out the door.
"I'm not the boss at home. Honestly I just think we are a normal couple," Lacombe said. "Sometimes she's joking at me that you're not in the army here and you don't have to control everything. But we are getting things well organized. We're trying not to be military at home."
