‘No place like home’ for McGuire Airmen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashley Casas
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. (AFPN) --  Many servicemembers have reasons for choosing the base or region where they are stationed. For five McGuire Airmen who hail from the same hometown, a base close to home seemed like the right choice.

None of them knew they would end up here at the same time and in the same unit.

Staff Sgt. Joseph Maneen, Senior Airman Sarah Gonzalez, Tech. Sgt. Shane Earl and Maj. Donald Brien, have two things in common -- they are assigned to the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group, and they grew up in Ilion, N.Y.

Tech. Sgt. Scott Brownrigg, the noncommissioned officer in charge of standards and evaluation of the network control center with the 305th Communications Squadron, is the “oddball” of the group. He is not assigned to the 621st AMOG; however, he works closely with his hometown friends and sees them often.

“I came here to be closer to home after a remote [assignment] to Osan Air Base, [South Korea],” Sergeant Brownrigg said. “It doesn’t surprise me to have all of us here. The Air Force is small, and we were bound to cross paths at some point. It’s nice to be close to New York.”

The other Ilion natives agree with him.

“I ended up at McGuire because I had been at numerous other bases and was looking to get close to home,” Sergeant Earl said. “There’s no place like upstate New York.”

Located 300 miles from McGuire, and 80 miles west of Albany, N.Y., the town of Ilion has a population of about 9,000. And although the five did not graduate together, the hometown connection is tight.

“Sergeant Brownrigg’s brother graduated a year before I did,” said Sergeant Maneen, an aircraft maintenance technician for the 821st Air Mobility Squadron. “His brother and I played football and wrestled together for six years. I also grew up with Major Brien’s brother, Pat.”

Some connections were even closer.

“The first person I discovered here from my hometown was Airman Gonzalez,” said Sergeant Earl, a 621st AMS air transportation craftsman. “She dated my step-nephew, so I played a joke on her and started talking about my family until she realized who I was.”

Sergeant Brownrigg ran into Major Brien at the commissary, and it only took them a few minutes to find their “Ilion connection,” and Sergeant Maneen found out through word-of-mouth.

“I knew before (coming) to McGuire that Sergeant Brownrigg and Major Brien were stationed here,” Sergeant Maneen said. “I learned of Sergeant Earl through word-of-mouth from another New Yorker. It was only a few weeks ago that I leaned about Airman Gonzalez.”

No matter how they found out about the connection, they said they are happy to be working with familiar faces.

“The advantage to working with other people from my hometown is to see faces you recognize -- not just from your hometown, but from other bases as well,” Sergeant Brownrigg said. “I remember when Sergeant Maneen arrived I had him over to my house for dinner and to watch football. Even though the Air Force is a family, and he had a sponsor, I thought it might be more comfortable for him to be around people he knew until he got settled in.”

Ilion is a nice, close-knit town, and it is a great place to sit and talk about, Sergeant Maneen said.

“Working with people from your hometown gives you a chance to remember the old times and where you come from,” Airman Gonzalez said. “It’s nice to know that you can talk to someone about ‘back home’ and they will know exactly what you are talking about.” (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)