ABERDEEN, N.C. – In a small ceremony on May 15, 2015, 1st Lt. Steven B. Moon, proudly pinned a set of "full-bird" colonel ranks onto the shoulder boards of his father’s dress uniform. It was the kind of father and son scene you might see in an Army commercial, but for these two officers it was a real-life moment.
Nearly a year ago, the tables were turned when then Lt. Col. Moon was promoting his son in Afghanistan.
“I promoted my son to first lieutenant in a combat zone so, for him having the opportunity to promote me, it’s like coming full circle,” said Col. Steven R. Moon, an Army Reserve Soldier currently serving on active duty as an operations officer with the Institute for Military Support to Governance at the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
At that time Col. Moon and his son were both serving in different locations in Afghanistan, but good timing made it possible for the senior Moon to be on hand to promote his up and coming son.
“As a second lieutenant, we know when our time is gonna hit and, with me being in Kandahar and him being in Kabul, I wanted him to be part of the ceremony” said the younger Moon, an active duty officer serving as a human resources officer with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado.
When he promoted his son in Afghanistan, then Lt. Col. Moon, had already made the promotion list for colonel, but couldn’t be promoted himself until assigned to a colonel position in the Army Reserve. When he received an assignment to the Joint Public Affairs Support Element in Norfolk, Virginia, the door opened for him to move forward with the promotion ceremony – the obvious choice to pin on the rank was his son.
When his father asked him to do the honors 1st Lt. Moon responded, “’Sure enough! That’d be great!’ With as many years in the service as he has, ... he’s earned it. It was special.”
The experience was also special in other ways.
“My father was a sergeant with Patton in North Africa, so we have a military history,” said Col. Moon. “I was thinking of how proud he would be to see his son and grandson being promoted as officers in the Army and Army Reserve. He’d grin ear-to-ear.”
Reflecting upon his own ceremony in Afghanistan, 1st Lt. Moon had similar thoughts. While he was glad his father was able to be a part of it, he lamented the absence of the rest of the family: His wife, mother, two sisters, uncles, friends and particularly his grandmother, who passed away the prior year.
“It would’ve been nice if she had been able to see me,” said 1st Lt. Moon.
Intent not to leave anybody out this time around, the Moon family employed technology for Col. Moon’s promotion. “We have FaceTime and iPads, so we were able to share the video with the family members that weren’t able to come.”
In the end, their story is all about family, the traditions they are passing on and the importance of being together.
“I’m very proud that my son is sort of following in my footsteps, he’s an adjutant general officer as I am. I hope that sometime I can pin him to colonel or even better, to general if decides to stay in that long,” said Col. Moon.
For the younger Moon, this father and son military arrangement just might be the key to helping him reach that type of success.
“He’s prepped me and coached me and he’s there for me when I have a question and it’s a pretty cool thing knowing he’s still around,” said 1st Lt. Moon.