Mom on a Mission, Mother Visits Deployed Son

Photo By Staff Sgt. Stephen Linch | Senior Airman Cody Noble, 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, hugs his mother, Sgt. 1st Class Karen Hickman, U.S. Army, here, Aug. 30. Noble had not seen his mom in more than a year when she visited the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing on a distinguished visitor tour. Airman Noble is deployed from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. Hickman is deployed from Camp Robinson, Ark.  

09.02.2009

Story by Staff Sgt. Stephen Linch 

380th Air Expeditionary Wing

The last thing deployed service members expect is for a family member to drop by for a visit, which is exactly what happened to a 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Airman.

Senior Airman Cody Noble, 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, could not believe it when he saw his mom, Sgt. 1st Class Karen Hickman, U.S. Army, for the first time in more than a year when she dropped by during a distinguished visitor tour here, Aug. 31.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "You just never expect something like that to happen."

Prior to meeting his mom that evening, Airman Noble's supervisor asked him to report to his office in uniform.

"I was thinking am I in some kind of trouble," Airman Noble said. "I was trying to think of what I could have done."

Soon he would no longer be worried about what he might have done. After instructing Noble to meet him, his supervisor, Staff Sgt. Richard Brown, 380th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, told him that they needed to go to the dining facility.

"I figured they wouldn't punish anybody at the dining facility," Airman Noble said. "So then I started thinking about what it could be."

Thinking perhaps he was going to get recognized for some volunteer work, he waited to see what would happen without thinking his mom might drop in for a visit.

"When I saw her, I was like, 'It can't be,'" Airman Noble said. "She came around the corner and said, 'hey baby.'

"Tears were running down my face," he said. "It had just been so long since I had seen her."

Having not seen his mom in almost a year and a half, Airman Noble wrapped his arms around his mother and exchanged 'I love you's' as a dining facility full of service members started clapping for the two.

After eating dinner together, Airman Noble took his mother on a tour around the 380th AEW, before her party departed.

"I was just so happy to see her," he said. "She has truly always been there for me."

• Date Taken: 09.02.2009
• Date Posted: 09.02.2009 12:54
• Story ID: 38284