SAN DIEGO -- At 10News we often report on local military personnel deploying to Iraq. This time it hits a little closer to home: our friend and colleague Angele Ringo will leave Friday to prepare for her second tour of duty in Iraq.

Many in San Diego know Angele Ringo as a 10News anchor/reporter but not as many know her in her other role as Army Sergeant First Class Angele Ringo.

"I am a military person," Ringo said. "My grandfather was in the Army, my dad was in the Navy. My brother was in the Navy."

After 10 years in the Army, Angele decided to go back. She joined the Army Reserve and spent 13 months in Baghdad in 2005 and 2006. She learned a lot about Iraq and herself.

"I dont think you go to a warzone without taking something away... learning a little bit about why you do it and what's happening in the place that you're deployed to," she said.

Angele the soldier works in public affairs. She said there isn't much of a difference going from being a journalist covering the news to being part of one of the biggest news events in the world. "Telling a soldier's story is telling a soldier's story," she said, "whether I'm in uniform or not."

She doesn't just sit in an office in Iraq. She's out covering stories about the troops. It's a war zone and, obviously, it's dangerous.

"It's something that's always there, and it's something you train for but you don't let it consume you," she said.

She hasn't taken direct fire but she's seen mortars explode all around her. It's very different.

"It is hard," she said. "It's hard anytime you deploy, being away from your family and your friends -- the normalcy of home -- but that becomes your new normal."

And now, as she prepares for deployment, what will she miss the most?

"My family," she said. "My mom. I have a really small, tight-knit family and I'm going to miss my mom."

But there is a job to do and she will do it.

"I consider it a privilege and an honor to serve," she said.

Angele will be posted in Basra, Iraq. As a broadcaster over there, part of her job will be setting up sattelite communication between servicemembers in the field and media outlets back home.

"Down the road I hope to talk with you and blog on 10news.com from Basra, bringing you stories about our changing role in Iraq," Ringo said. "There are still more than 128,000 military men and women in Iraq. I just happen to be one of them but through my job I hope to check in and give you a unique perspective."