Please help me ease the fear of a military relationship. I really care for this man and I want to do right by him.

So for the past year I've been taking to a guy I went to high school with who is in the Army. We haven't actually seen each other since graduation though (two years ago) because he's stationed out of state and was deployed for 9 months out of the year we've been talking. He's 1st Cav so I've been told he'll be deployed a lot. I really like him, and he's coming home for leave in a month. I'm so scared. If this works out, I want to be strong enough for him. I don't know how to do it. I'm afraid of long distance and I'm scared things will move too quickly because that's been a trend I've noticed in the relationships of people I know with military spouses (Now mostly ex spouses). Im not going to rule out a relationship with someone I really like just because of what he does. I admire him for his service and commitment to our country. I guess basically I'm wanting to know how you guys do it. How is your relationship with your s.o. and how do you keep it solid?