386th Air Expeditionary Wing

Story by Staff Sgt. Shaun Emery

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - An aircraft maintainer's job is to ensure the safety of his aircraft and its crew. But for one maintenance officer here, the stakes are raised when his older brother is at the controls.

Growing up, Capt. Bryan Lucero, 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-17 Globemaster III pilot, always looked out for his younger brother, 2nd Lt. Nathan Lucero, 5th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron officer in charge. But since being reunited here, the tables have turned and it's now the younger Lucero's job to take care of his big brother.

Lt. Lucero was always following his brother growing up in Albuquerque, N.M. When soccer became his brother's sport of choice, Lt. Lucero followed suit. He would tag along to parties and even share the same friends. When Capt. Lucero dropped out of college and joined the military, it seemed as if that's where their paths might split.

Capt. Lucero would spend four years as an enlisted Airman in signals intelligence, before accepting a Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholarship that would ultimately alter both his and his little brother's life.

"My brother was the number one reason I joined the Air Force," said Lt. Lucero. "I saw what his life was like, so I thought I'd give it a shot."

Even after earning his own ROTC scholarship, Lt. Luceno never imagined he would be working with his brother.

"I wanted to be a cop," he said. "I wanted to go into OSI. I never wanted to work with aircraft."

But that plan didn't work out for Lt. Luceno, and when a job in aircraft maintenance fell into his lap, he hopped on board and hasn't looked back since.

That was six years ago, and now the two brothers are finding that being deployed with sibling, in such a closely related career field, adds an interesting dynamic to deployed life.

"When I know he's flying, it's constantly on my mind," said Lt. Lucero. "It's my job to make sure that aircraft is safe. Every time a plane takes off, I have to be able to say I would trust putting my family on it, and here I literally have to mean it."

Lt. Luceno knows his brothers job, delivering personnel, supplies and equipment to the AOR is dangerous, so when he is able, he drives out to meet his brother and welcome him home.

"It's pretty great to come back from a mission and have the first person I see be my little brother," said Capt. Lucero. "It has actually made my last two weeks here a little tougher," he added. "On one hand I can't wait to see my family back home, but on the other hand I've enjoyed the last two weeks, spending time with Nathan."

More than just seeing his little brother on a regular basis, Capt. Luceno said he still enjoys taking care of his brother and helping him a grow as an officer.

"He has so much responsibility here," said Capt. Luceno. "There have been some occasions when I was able to offer guidance to help him out. We've been able to talk a lot about our job. We have a better understanding of each other's job now. It has brought us closer and made us better at what we do."

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