FITCHBURG -- Gunnery Sgt. Michael Connors bid farewell to his family at his Atlantic Avenue home early Thursday morning and drove to Camp Lejeune on the coast of North Carolina, where he will prepare for his sixth overseas deployment since he joined the Marines 12 years ago.

Connors is an enthusiastic father of four and married to the love of his life. But as much as it stings to leave them behind, he also loves his job "being a warrior."

He's ready for his next challenge: Afghanistan.

"I think there's an element of society that just is able to deal with combat, and once you realize that, it's your duty to do it," Connors said.

A 31-year-old Fitchburg native, Connors came to that realization shortly after high school. He joined the Marine Corps in July 1998, and for the last 12 years found himself in combat situations in 88 different countries.

He's completed three tours in Iraq, captured insurgents, helped curtail uprising in the Caribbean and trained special mission groups in combat.

"The worst possible situation you see on television, that's where you'll find me," Connors said.

For the last three years, things were relatively bucolic for Connors and his family.

Connors was assigned in late 2006 to the Recruiting Station in Portsmouth, N.H. The hours were grueling, but Connors and his wife, Robin, were able to buy a home and welcome a new son, Seamus, who will turn 3 in August.

The couple, who wed in 2006, also have three daughters between them. Haylie is 18, Cloe is 9 and Michaela is 8. "We're one big happy family now," Robin Connors said.
Connors was last deployed in 2005, where he provided special weapons training to units already in the country. At that time, Robin Connors said she and Michael were just good friends, so watching him leave this time as her husband is tough.

"Do I hold back the tears? Absolutely. I don't want the children to feel that he's leaving us, because he's not," Robin Connors said. "There are emotions that are devastating, but that's his job. I knew that when I married him."

Connors said he appreciates his wife's strength. "I know my kids are good because mom's good," Connors said.

In mid-June, Connors got the orders to report back to Camp Lejeune, where he and his family lived before coming back to Fitchburg. He will participate in predeployment training until December, when he's slated to leave for Afghanistan.

The Connors decided it would be best for Robin and the children to stay in Fitchburg for now. The kids love attending McKay Elementary School with their friends, and Haylie, the eldest, will attend Clark University in the fall. In the future, they may move to North Carolina to be close to Michael when he returns from Afghanistan, or if he's promoted there's a chance he could move back to Fitchburg.

Connors is moving up the ranks in the Marine Corps. As a gunnery sergeant, he'll be in charge of a platoon of about 60 men.

"I'm not going to say there's not an element of fear, but it's not my first rodeo; it's what you do with that fear," Connors said.

The Connors children plan to communicate with their father through e-mail and Skype while he's gone. Cloe and Michaela will also keep journals to document everything they want to tell him about their day-to-day lives.

"I'm sad because I'll miss him, but we'll be able to send him cookies, and e-mail him," said Michaela, who had just got through setting up her own e-mail account on Tuesday for that purpose.

Cloe said she's worried about all the fun things her father will miss while he's over seas. "If we go somewhere new, daddy never went with us he won't get to see it. But we're going to send him letters," she said.

Connors has eight more years before he'll retire from the Marine Corps. Over the last three years, he worked as a part-time police officer for the Lunenburg Police Department, and is considering becoming a full-time officer once his job as a Marine is done.

But for now, Connors has his mind only on the job ahead of him.

"It's been nice to be home and see everybody, but it's going to be good to get back to business as usual," Connors said.