Photo By Staff Sgt. Jackie Sanders | Senior Airman Michael Stevens (left), Senior Master Sgt. Eric Erler (middle) and...... read more read more
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Many airmen know the concept of the Air Force family, but three airmen assigned to the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Group have a slightly different understanding of what it means to be an Air Force Family.
Senior Master Sgt. Eric Erler, his son, Senior Airman Brandon Erler, and nephew Senior Airman Michael Stevens, are Air National Guard members deployed from the 138th Fighter Squadron in Tulsa, Okla., to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, as part of the 451st EMXG.
Their jobs vary, but each member of the family is responsible for accomplishing a small part of the overall mission of the 451st AEW.
Eric Erler is the shift lead in charge of planning. His responsibility includes ensuring mission completions.
“I make sure we have everything we need to generate the jets and keep them going,” he said.
Brandon Erler is an aerospace ground equipment mechanic.
“I fix [the equipment] if it breaks,” he said.
Stevens is an armament technician.
“I’m armament so, I work on everything that’s loaded to the jet,” he said
Each airman provides a critical role to ensure the mission’s success.
“It’s nice to be here as a family, but making sure the mission gets done is all of our primary concern,” Brandon Erler said.
When the primary concern is the mission, it’s helpful to have some history with the airmen working next to you, Eric Erler said.
“Our family has a history of military service,” Brandon Erler said. “I don’t know about it being passed down, but it’s definitely there. Our grandfather was in the Navy – we’ve got family in the Army, Marines, and Air Force.”
Family members aren’t an uncommon sight during deployments, said Eric Erler, who has deployed 10 times throughout his 26-year career with the Air National Guard. Deployment comes with the job, he said.
The senior master sergeant said his unit has deployed 11 times, and he’s been able to accompany the unit on all but one of those deployments.
“The one that I missed was Brandon’s first deployment, and as you can imagine, his mother was not happy about that,” Eric Erler said and laughed. “She’s not happy that any one of the three of us is here, but she’s happier knowing that the three of us are here together. She knows that if anything happens, the three of us will be here to take care of each other.”
Taking care of each other can be difficult at times, Stevens said. Because although they all work in the same unit, each family member is on a different shift, making communicating between the three challenging at times.
“We haven’t had a whole lot of opportunity to spend that much time together as I’m sure we’d all like,” Eric Erler said. “Everybody is on different schedules and different shifts, which makes that hard. It is nice knowing you’ve got that family support right there though. The military brotherhood is one thing, but when you’ve actually got blood standing right there beside you it’s a pretty strong feeling.”
Strong feelings can be important when working in the largest maintenance complex in the southwest area of responsibility.
“There’s a sense of pride that comes with doing the job here, and knowing my family is helping out with that only makes me feel it even more,” Brandon Erler said.
The pride and unique experience of serving a deployment offers this Guard family the opportunity to perform one of the unique and critical missions in the area of responsibility, while getting to spend time with their biological family.
| Date Taken: | 10.28.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 11.04.2013 04:18 |
| Story ID: | 116230 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | TULSA, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 111 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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