Sibling reunion ‘sweet’ for Air Force reservist

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jennifer Lindsey
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  Family reunions may seem sappy to some, but for maple syrup farming siblings deployed to Afghanistan, such meetings are truly sweet.

Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Jo Allen, a reservist deployed to nearby Bagram Air Base from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., and U.S. Army Reserve Chief Warrant Officer Tim Gaby, deployed from Ft. Wayne, Ind., celebrated the chief’s recent promotion together here Oct. 20. The siblings serve in Afghanistan supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

They are the children of Jack Gaby, who still manages the family farm in northeastern Indiana near Kendallville.

During their short time together, Sergeant Allen and Chief Gaby caught up on family events, shared photographs and reminisced about growing up on the family farm 30-plus years ago. At ages 45 and 44, he is the youngest of the family.

Sergeant Allen is a 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron passenger terminal nightshift manager, and her brother is the 221st Ordnance Co. ammunitions supply point accountable officer.

In their civilian lives, Sergeant Allen, a mother of two, is a full-time administrative assistant for a community action agency in Kinston, N.C., and Chief Gaby helps his father manage the farm and works full time as a mechanic for a local factory.

Although their lives may seem hectic, and they are, the only way the reservists could field such demanding schedules while deployed is with the support of their communities, they said.

“Serving in Afghanistan has been an amazing experience. Women from my office just don’t do stuff like this, especially at age 45,” Sergeant Allen said. “But, I certainly couldn’t do it without the help and support of friends and neighbors.”

While away, neighbors voluntarily help the Airman by mowing the lawn, picking up newspapers and caring for her teenage daughter. Sergeant Allen’s husband, a truck driver, makes it home weekly with barely enough time to get ready for his next haul, and her son is away at Naval technical school.

“As reservists, the support we receive from our communities is amazing and greatly appreciated,” Chief Gaby said. “We get more care packages than anyone I know, and we share them with all the other military members here. Everyone loves the goodies -- they really help the morale.”

Packages have included everything from cookies and toiletries to dryer sheets and weather thermometers that measure higher than 120-degrees.

The siblings said they tap into the small town lessons they learned growing up in rural Indiana many years ago.

“The values of working hard and continuing until the job is done right comes into play for me everyday,” the Soldier said. “In ammo, accountability of each and every munition weighs in as much as safety on the job.”

If a single bullet is not logged correctly, troops must recount inventory until the missing item is properly accounted for, sometimes well into the shift’s end, he said.

For Sergeant Allen, physical strength and maintaining a sense of humor go a long way on the flightline.

“At times, I have to load rucksacks weighing 70 pounds or more over my head to get them onto the cargo aircraft -- some I can barely lift,” she said. “It’s a lot like when we were kids loading bales of hay onto the hay wagon.”

Teamwork is one value the siblings said they found indispensable in their jobs. They have also benefited from the team spirit of people back home who support them.

“When you activate a reservist, you activate an entire hometown community,” Sergeant Allen said. “The real hometown heroes are the ones who make it possible for us to serve in Afghanistan by making sure the homefront runs smoothly in our absence.”