army reserve Capt. Michael Archibeque, who is also principal of Pleasant Valley Middle School in Wichita, talks with sixth-grader Leonel Luna during a science class. Archibeque recently returned from a yearlong deployment to Kuwait.

Wichita ? In his middle school or in the Middle East, kids are kids, said Capt. Michael Archibeque.

“There’s basically the same issues … the same kinds of problems” commanding a company of young soldiers and being principal at Pleasant Valley Middle School, said Archibeque, who returned to work recently after a yearlong deployment to Kuwait.

But he said: “It’s good to be back. This is my passion. This is what I love doing.”

Archibeque — “Archie” to many of his students and colleagues — deployed with his U.S. Army Reserve unit last March. He was the first Wichita principal to deploy as part of the Iraq war.

He commands the 441st Medical Company, which supplied and operated ambulances that served American soldiers and residents of Kuwait.

Some things changed while Archibeque was gone: The district hired a new superintendent, his middle school launched the America’s Choice reform program, and a new crop of sixth-graders started at Pleasant Valley.

But lots didn’t change, like the way Archibeque loudly and firmly directs students to pull up sagging pants or hustle to their next class.

“The students are pretty happy that I’m back,” he said. “Most of them.”

Archibeque’s year in Kuwait, his first deployment in 22 years in the Army and Reserves, was frightening at first, he said. He would hear explosions in the distance and wonder when his ambulance might drive over a bomb.

After a few weeks, though, he learned that Kuwaiti soldiers had been locating and safely detonating unexploded devices left over from the first Gulf War. “That was a relief,” he said.

Archibeque remembers huge yellow lizards, oppressive heat and gritty sand, and white camels that sauntered down busy streets, refusing to budge when he’d honk his horn.

He recalls morning Reveille and the “Patton” theme, tunes he plans to employ next school year when Pleasant Valley cuts passing periods from five minutes to four.

“Maybe if they hear that (over the speakers), they’ll know they need to book it to class,” he said.