Photo By Louis Briscese | U.S Air Force Master Sgt. Rolan Tuazon, left, and his twin brother Master Sgt. Rico...... read more read more
Subscribe
It’s not uncommon for siblings to serve together at the same duty station, but for the Tuazon brothers, their assignment at Travis Air Force Base, California, is a bit more unique. The identical twin brothers from Alameda, California, are not only assigned to Travis, they are the same rank, assigned to the same squadron and share the same office.
Master Sgt. Rico Tuazon, 60th Communications Squadron, client support section chief and Master Sgt. Rolan Tuazon, 60th CS, network operations section chief, have been stationed together since February 2017.
“It was cool when I found out Rico was coming to Travis,” said Rolan. “I got my assignment at Travis through a follow-on from a remote I did in Korea and Rico ended up doing the same thing.”
Rico was also excited about the opportunity to serve at the same duty station with his brother.
“I felt great when I found out I was coming to Travis,” said Rico. “I was excited to get stationed with my brother for the first time ever.”
Although they have been serving in the Air Force for 17 years now, this is the first time they have been stationed together.
“The closest we had been stationed together prior to Travis was when I was at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas and Rolan was at basic training,” said Rico. “I was able to pick him up on one of his liberty days and take him back to Randolph.”
The brothers come from a military background. Their father served 20 years in the Air Force, but he never pushed either of them to follow his footsteps.
“Our father was very open to what my brother and I were going to do with our lives,” said Rolan. “He never pushed us to join. He just informed us of the positives and negatives and let us figure it out for ourselves.”
Despite their father’s openness, the brothers always felt they would follow the same path of serving in the Air Force.
“We’re military brats. The Air Force was such a huge part of our lives growing up” said Rico. “I think in the back of our minds, we always felt that the Air Force would be the place we ended up at.”
Rico joined the Air Force right out of high school while Rolan attempted school first.
“I finished off a semester at school and realized it just wasn’t for me,” he said.
While serving, the brothers communicated often to keep each other informed on matters back home and encourage each other as they progressed in their careers.
“A lot of our communication had to do with family, video games and personal stuff,” said Rico. “We didn’t talk much about Air Force stuff unless we got promoted or did something significant.”
Throughout their careers, the hope of serving together was always a dream of theirs.
“We have always had aspirations to be stationed together,” said Rolan. “Unfortunately, up until now, we never had that opportunity.”
Now, 17 years later, the identical twins find themselves sharing the same office, in the same unit, wearing the same rank. That combination tends to cause some confusion for some people.
“There’s sort of a shock value when people come into the office and see us sitting here,” said Rolan. “They do a double take and make sure they aren’t losing their minds.”
Lt. Col. Thomas Stady, 60th Communications Squadron, commander, gets a kick out of having the brothers in the same unit.
“Rolan had been here for a while,” said Stady. “When I saw the name Tuazon on the inbound chart I joked and asked him if he was coming back here, Rolan told me it was his brother and that, not only were they the same rank, but they are also twins.”
Stady has resorted to calling the brothers by their first names during staff meetings so there’s no confusion. His staff; likes to play jokes and refer to the brothers by their last name.
“Others in the squadron would joke with me and say Master Sgt. Tuazon is taking care of that,” said Stady. “I’d walk halfway down the corridor and realize they didn’t tell me which Tuazon brother was working it.”
Having the brothers share the same office due to some reorganization in the squadron has been a real benefit for the squadron as well.
“It’s been awesome,” said Stady. “We needed another Master Sgt. to break the flight up into halves,” They just so happened to be the senior ranking, had the right Air Force specialty codes. The idea was to put those section chiefs together to get some synergy and they were the right ones.”
The brothers also enjoy working hand in hand with one another because it makes it easier to get things done.
“It makes it a lot easier to tell my brother if I don’t like something or if someone isn’t doing something they’re supposed to,” said Rico. “You never know how someone is going to react when you tell them something like that. With my brother, I already know he’s going to take it to heart and fix it.”
Rolan agrees that being brothers provides a bit more sense of urgency when something needs to get done.
“Being stationed together has been everything I expected and more,” said Rolan. “I know when I need something or he needs something, we’re going to go out of our way to make sure we get it done because were brothers.”
Meanwhile, the brothers are grateful to have this opportunity to serve together, especially towards the end of their careers.
“I could see us both retiring from Travis because we are close to the end of our careers,” said Rico. “This would certainly be a great way go out having served with my brother.”
| Date Taken: | 09.29.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2017 12:54 |
| Story ID: | 250049 |
| Location: | CA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,077 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Twin Brothers Serve Together at Travis AFB, by Louis Briscese, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT