Subscribe
Honor. Heritage. Family.
These characteristics reflect life serving in the military for Tech. Sgt. Derek Boston of the 191st Maintenance Squadron, Michigan Air National Guard. His father, wife also serve in the Guard. Several siblings are serving elsewhere in the U.S. military.
Boston said his path to his enlistment in the Air National Guard began by watching his father, Master Sgt. Joe Gleason, getting up in the morning and putting his uniform on to go to work.
Boston serves as crew chief on KC-135 Stratotankers with the Guard. His dad, Gleason, works in vehicle maintenance with the 127th Logistics Readiness Squadron. Both are assigned to Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan. Boston’s wife, Staff Sgt. Ashley Boston, works in financial management at Selfridge with the 127th Comptroller Flight.
"I have six kids and four of them are in the Air Force," Gleason said. "My other two children are married to military members."
Gleason said Boston’s inclination toward military service began at an early age.
"He is a strong leader who reaches out to others," Gleason said. "I have seen these qualities in him his entire life."
Boston said he made the right decision in deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps. He said he enjoys his job as a crew chief. He said a big part of the job is always staying “mission ready” for potential worldwide deployments.
The duties of a crew chief include general maintenance and care for the aircraft.
"There is a sense of pride and accomplishment," Boston said. "The work I do enables a 60-year-old aircraft to fly and contribute to the Air Force mission."
Boston and his wife have been married for five years. The couple said with both of them serving in the military, there can be challenges.
“We have been married for five years but haven't spent a single Valentine's Day together. But we both love being in the military." Ashley Boston said. "It's not always easy but we make it work. We both love what we do and have made a commitment to putting service before self.”
| Date Taken: | 01.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 01.20.2020 18:11 |
| Story ID: | 359626 |
| Location: | SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, MI, US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Honor. Heritage. Family, by TSgt Samara Underwood, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT