ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AFPN) -- A mother and her daughter have the Air Force to thank for being able to serve together.
Col. LeEllen Coacher, 89th Airlift Wing staff judge advocate, supervises six attorneys, eight paralegals and four Department of Defense civilians.
Her daughter, Capt. Kacey Grannis, is a 1st Helicopter Squadron pilot.
Colonel Coacher arrived here a few weeks long ago, after serving as the deputy staff judge advocate for Air Education and Training Command Deputy at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
Captain Grannis has been here since May. She arrived from an assignment with the 40th HS at Malmstrom AFB, Mont.
A mother and daughter assigned to the same base is rare, but not a surprise to the colonel.
“The Air Force moves for what the Air Force needs,” she said. “In this particular case, it happened to work out.”
Colonel Coacher and her husband, retired Lt. Col. Robert Coacher, share their northern Virginia home with their daughter and her 3-year-old daughter.
They stay busy during the day, each with their own important job to do. But mother and daughter have gone out to lunch a few times since the colonel’s arrival here.
“Of course, we see each other at night, if Kacey isn’t on alert,” Colonel Coacher said. “She’ll call me and say, ‘who’s fixing dinner today?’”
Colonel Coacher has known her husband since she graduated from Douglas High School on Ellsworth AFB, S.D., in 1975. Her father retired from the Air Force as a major there, the year before.
Captain Grannis was born a year after her parents married, in 1976. The Coachers had a second daughter, Robyn, in 1981. While raising their daughters, the couple attended the University of South Dakota law school in Vermillion.
A month after Colonel Coacher graduated from law school, in 1984, she and her husband entered the Air Force as direct appointees. The couple’s youngest child, son Ryan, was 10 months old.
The colonel said she and her husband felt the military provided a wider range of legal experience than they could receive as civilian attorneys.
“Being an Air Force JAG allows you to practice a number of different types of law, everything from criminal law to contracts to environmental law,” she said. “It’s never boring.”
Colonel Coacher considered retiring from the Air Force earlier this year. But, when she was told about the SJA position here, she accepted immediately.
“I enjoy working with commanders and staff at a wing,” she said. “I also enjoy working with young attorneys and paralegals and training them to be the next SJA or law office superintendent.”
Her job also allows Colonel Coacher to be closer to her daughter and granddaughter.
Captain Grannis said she knew, at age 9, she wanted to be a pilot after watching the Thunderbirds perform at an air show at Clark Air Base, the Philippines. Her mother served as circuit defense counsel there.
The captain graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., in June 1999. She decided to become a helicopter pilot while assigned to a special operations unit, on casual status, at Eglin AFB, Fla.
“While at Eglin, I had an opportunity to fly with the MH-53s,” she said. “I remember sitting on the back of the ramp and kicking my feet 50 feet above the dirt. The aircraft was going faster than 100 knots. It was way too much fun. That’s probably why I’m a helicopter pilot today.”
After undergraduate pilot training at Columbus AFB, Miss., the captain trained to fly helicopters at Fort Rucker, Ala. Then she received initial mission qualification training on the UH-1N at Kirtland AFB, N.M.
Colonel Coacher and Captain Grannis have no plans to change careers or leave the Air Force.
While assigned to Andrews, mother and daughter take advantage of the time they have together, on base or off. It’s an opportunity they can’t pass up.