Twin sisters assume command of AMC squadrons

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Katherine Kebisek
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) --  Twin sisters, Majs. Shawna O'Brien and Dawn Keasley, assumed command of two Air Mobility Command mission support squadrons on the same day recently.

Major O'Brien took command of the 319th Mission Support Squadron at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., and her sister, Major Keasley, took command of the 375th MSS here.

"We've had overlapping assignments ... but this is the first time we're having the same type of job at the same time," Major Keasley said. "And it just happens to be in the same (major command). It's pretty cool."

Major O'Brien comes to the 319th MSS from the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell AFB, Ala. Major Keasley comes to the 375th MSS from the Pentagon.

The sisters began their career together attending the Air Force Academy; Major Keasley graduated in 1989, and Major O'Brien graduated in 1990 after attending an 11-month preparatory school. They did not begin their Air Force careers in personnel; rather, Major Keasley began in security forces, and Major O'Brien in air traffic control.

After independently deciding to retrain into personnel, the two attended the Basic Personnel Officer Course together and graduated in 1997. Since then, both have served as military personnel flight commanders and have worked as action officers at the Pentagon, but never at the same time.

The two are very close to their family and continue a rich military tradition. Their father, Joe Keasley, is a retired Air Force master sergeant and their mother, Vera Keasley, works as the director of family day care at Robins AFB, Ga.

Both majors said they use one another to bounce ideas off of, or to help observe and analyze different situations or problems.

"We're each other's compass," Major O'Brien said. "We're really not very different. We both care about people very much ... we always do the best that we can, because anything less is a waste of time." (Courtesy of AMC News Service)