Military couple on Iraq 'honeymoon'

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A married couple in the Texas Army National Guard say they synchronized their deployment schedules for what they jokingly call "a nine-month honeymoon" in Iraq.

Miguel and Amanda Perez, who deployed to Iraq with the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Houston, said they met during guard training and married Oct. 2, shortly before leaving for the war zone, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday.

The couple said their first home together is a 130-square-foot room in a containerized housing unit at Baghdad's Camp Prosperity.

"I like to think about it like it's the military sending us on a vacation," Miguel Perez, 24, said jokingly. "Sand and palm trees everywhere -- a nine-month honeymoon."

The Perezes said the hardest part about deploying together is following the military's strict rules about displays of affection.

"They said we had to keep it professional when it came to work and if there's any problems they're going to separate us," Amanda Perez said.

"We can't show affection in front of everybody because we're in uniform, so we really have to watch what we say to each other, and we can't touch each other," her husband said.