Brothers in Arms

Photo By Spc. Deborah Ledesma | SOUTHWEST ASIA (Sept. 20, 2006) - Sgt. 1st Class Shelva Combs and Sgt. 1st Class Elva Combs, both aircraft mechanics with the 1107th Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, are repairing a piece of equipment. The brothers travel throughout the theater repairing helicopters for units assigned to USARCENT.  

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09.20.2006

Story by Spc. Deborah Ledesma 

40th Public Affairs Detachment

Spc. Debrah Robertson
Desert Voice Staff Writer/ 40th Public Affairs Detachment

SOUTHWEST ASIA (Sept. 20, 2006) ---Although they are so far from their home of Ozark, Mo., Shelva and Elva Combs have each other to lean on.

Inspired by their father's World War II tour, the two brothers followed suit, and joined the Missouri National Guard together Nov. 20, 1974, remembering the patriotism their father, Ernest Combs, had instilled in them.

The brothers joined the military with four of their friends as their senior year of high school wound down.

"But we were the only two who stayed beyond our initial enlistment," said Sgt. 1st Class Elva Combs, an aircraft mechanic with the 1107th Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, a unit under USARCENT that is helping deployed units with damaged aircraft.

With the encouragement of each other and their father, the brothers have reenlisted in the Guard many times.

"Our father received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in WWII, and he lost his only brother in the war," said Elva Combs.

Despite his loss, their father encourages them in their military careers, said Sgt. 1st Class Shelva Combs, also an aircraft mechanic with the 1107th. "He said he'd be here with us if he could."

Having family at home to support them and each other helps the brothers get through their deployment in Iraq.

"It makes things easier," said Shelva Combs about having his fraternal twin in Iraq with him. "It makes you feel a lot more at ease knowing you have family close."

"Working together, it's like we have [extrasensory perception]," said Elva Combs. "I know what he's thinking and he knows what I'm thinking.

"We finish things twice as fast as other people working together because we know what the other one is going to do next."

When not deployed, the brothers work fulltime for the Missouri AVCRAD together as civil service technicians and are now deployed as aircraft mechanics and sheet metal specialists rebuilding airframes.

Together, the two brothers have served in the military for a combined 64 years.

"Although we [each] have enough time in [service] to retire, we'll stay," said Shelva Combs. "The Guard has been good to me; it's the least I could do."

"I'll stay in until they kick me out," laughed Elva Combs.

• Date Taken: 09.20.2006
• Date Posted: 09.21.2006 15:17
• Story ID: 7799
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)