The National Guard is often referred to as a family, and many children have followed in their parents’ footsteps by joining.
For brothers Jack and Joshua Seeberger this truly is a family affair. Their father, Scott Seeberger retired as a master sergeant from the 109th Airlift Wing in 2012 serving more than 22 years in the military. The brothers, now airmen first class, returned from more than a year of training in March.
One of the unique aspects of the Guard is being able to enlist and serve with family. Jack and Joshua enlisted together in 2018 and left for basic military training that February. They have been together in every aspect of their training from being assigned the same flight in basic training and throughout classes in technical school. They were even selected as element leaders at the same time before anyone knew they were brothers.
“Even though we never planned on joining at the same time, being able to take the journey with my brother made it a little easier and also rewarding,” said Joshua. “This is just one more experience that we can share together.
After they completed the basic loadmaster course in San Antonio they flew to Jacksonville, Arkansas, for initial qualification for the C130-H and the last stop was to complete Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training.
The brothers returned to their home station here on March 16. They are now completing Mission Essential Skills Training, which gives them more in-depth training of the ski-equipped LC-130.
As children they grew up visiting the base with their dad.
“He used to bring us on the base all the time,” said Jack. “We would run around the load shop all the time.”
Their father joined the 109th on September 2001 and was prior enlisted in the Marine Corps. He was also a loadmaster for the C130-H completing missions around the world. When asked about his sons’ service he expressed his pride and excitement for their careers.
“It’s a great experience and I’m just glad they have an opportunity to travel,” he said. “It’s a great job. It’s a great starting point for them, the mission is awesome. I’m very proud.”