Photo By Senior Airman Alexis Pentzer | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Hector De Los Santos, 378th Expeditionary Force Support...... read more read more
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U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY - It’s a rare occurrence to meet someone you want to spend the rest of your life with when you are halfway across the world. It is even rarer for two people to return to the same place where they met under the same circumstances.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Hector De Los Santos, 378th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron lodging noncommissioned officer in charge, and U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Hana De Los Santos, 378th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron command support staff, first met during a deployment in 2020 at the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing. After returning home, the two decided to get married. Five years later, they find themselves deployed together once again in the place where their story began.
During their first deployment together, the De Los Santoses met through a mutual coworker's function they both attended. Though their relationship began as friends, they connected throughout the deployment and became exclusive shortly before returning home.
“After going home, we couldn’t see each other often,” Hector said. “It took a lot of planning to visit each other. Long distance wasn’t super challenging because we were able to maintain effective communication, which has been the key to us keeping a very loving, very healthy relationship.”
The De Los Santoses credit the success of their relationship to maintaining open, honest communication. Their communication skills began with a conversation card game they were gifted from a friend when they got engaged.
“Having those types of conversations were really good,” Hana said. “The game had questions that you would never think to talk about until someone asks you, and it went a long way in getting to know each other on a deeper level.”
The De Los Santos couple were thrilled to find out they were coming back to the place they met. While here for a second time, they are still able to keep a somewhat normal routine with each other and don't have to worry about typical deployment couple concerns.
“Thankfully our schedules line up, which allows us to spend quality time with each other,” Hector said. “It makes life seem more normal since we were fortunate enough to not be far away from each other or deal with the time change.”
Living together during the deployment without the usual comforts from home built a stronger bond between them.They have made an effort to make time for each other and have hobbies together like reading and playing pickleball.
Being married in the military has always had its own unique set of struggles. From long work hours and conflicting schedules, to frequent moves and deployments, many military couples have their fair share of challenges. The De Los Santos couple have embraced the challenges of military life and are making the most of their second deployment together.
“Call me a hopeless romantic, but it was full circle,” Hana said. “We had talked about possibly doing some type of trip to come back to Saudi [Arabia]. When I found out we were coming here, I was excited. We’ve been able to go off base and sightsee together this time around.”
When they return home after this deployment, the De Los Santoses are hoping to get a permanent change of station within the year and have plans to start growing their family at their next base.
“If pursuing that relationship with the person is what you want to do, just do it,” Hana said. “When I was a brand new Airman, I would always hear, ‘don’t fall in love on deployment’ and stuff like that. You shouldn’t let that stereotype hold you back from pursuing someone you want to be with.”
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.20.2025 03:30 |
| Story ID: | 491083 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 18 |
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This work, A Destined Deployment: A Full Circle Love Story, by SrA Alexis Pentzer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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