Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Eric Peterson | Air Force Senior Airman Stephanie Faught and her brother, Air Force Staff Sgt. Blain...... read more read more
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UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - Few Airmen deployed to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia are able to say they serve alongside a family member, but a lucky brother and sister from Arkansas can.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Blain Faught and Air Force Senior Airman Stephanie Faught are serving six-month tours as members of the 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Group.
Joining the military was a natural thing to do for each of the Faughts. The Faughts’ military family includes a grandfather who served in the Air Force, a brother who served in the Army and several other family members who served in the Navy.
After completing two years of college at Arkansas State University, Blain decided to join the Air Force and became a dedicated crew chief for the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft. His home station is Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
When it came time for Stephanie to select a career field, she followed in her father’s footsteps and became an environmental systems specialist for the U-2 Dragon Lady aircraft. She was assigned to Beale Air Force Base, California.
“When I told my dad that I wanted to be in the military, he kind of steered me to the electrical side because that’s what he does—he’s a contractor for C-130 simulators in Little Rock,” said Stephanie. “He gave me all the books and taught me how to use the multimeter early on, so he gave me a head start with it.”
This deployment is the first for Stephanie but it is the third trip to the 380th AEW for Blain. Serving on a deployment together allows the two to catch up on valuable lost time.
“We work for four of the same hours on the same shift, so sometimes I see him at work,” said Stephanie. “On our days off we’ll get to hang out either after or before work.”
“We’ve seen each other maybe two or three times in the past seven years since I joined the Air Force,” said Blain. “This is probably the most time we’ve spent together.”
The Faughts fight for bragging rights in ping pong matches held during their off-duty time in the wing’s community activities center. Prior to their deployment, neither had played the game but now they’ve both grown fond of table tennis.
There’s also some healthy competition between the two when it comes to career advancement.
“For me, I need to hurry up and make tech (technical sergeant), because she just put on senior airman and she’s starting to close the gap,” said Blain. “I can’t let her catch up to me. If she catches up to me, I’m going to go to OTS (Officer Training School).”
They enjoy being able to keep up to date with news from the rest of their family through the use of Wi-Fi on base, which Blain considers a big improvement that began during his second deployment to the wing.
“Since they’ve got Wi-Fi in all of the dorm rooms now, that’s been a huge bonus and it’s made it a lot easier,” said Blain.
I’ve definitely been spoiled here, this place is a great first deployment,” said Stephanie.
The Faughts have both earned Community College of the Air Force associate of applied science degrees in aircraft maintenance and are looking ahead to obtaining bachelor’s degrees in the future.
Stephanie has already completed nine college classes towards a degree in teaching and Blain is pursuing a business management degree.
Both Faughts are career-minded and are interested in completing at least 20 years of service in the Air Force.
| Date Taken: | 09.03.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2014 07:30 |
| Story ID: | 141901 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 1,975 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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