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Father, son prep jets together for flight in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. John Gordinier
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 301st Fighter Wing out of Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, pulls into a hangar here for alert-status preparation.

A frenzy of crew chiefs work together to get the aircraft turned around quickly for the next go. Among the crew chiefs, a master sergeant and a senior airman with the same last name on their nametapes work side-by-side preparing the jet for the fight.

Master Sgt. Darrel Brownlee and his son, Senior Airman Kevin Brownlee, are Air Force reservists in the 332nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron aircraft maintenance unit, recently deployed here for an 80-day rotation from their hometown of Fort Worth

"It's great working with my son. He finally does what I tell him to do," Sergeant Brownlee said jokingly while staring at his son with a grin. "We work very well together, and it's great to have family by my side during this deployment.

"At first, it was just me deploying and my wife, Troy Lynn, was a little bothered by that," the master sergeant said. "Later, we found out Kevin was going as well. Needless to say, my wife blamed me a little at first, but she got over it pretty fast."

"I have a good time working with my dad because I get to teach him something every once in a while," Airman Brownlee responded, poking fun back at his dad. "My dad didn't push me into the Air Force at all, it was my decision, and I'm very happy with my experience thus far. Not many people can say they work on F-16 fighter jets."

Sergeant Brownlee spent seven years of active-duty and 17 years in the Air Force Reserve service. His son has been a reservist for three years.

"Sergeant and Airman Brownlee are the epitome of dedication and service," said Capt. Robert Mehan, officer in charge of the aircraft maintenance unit. "They help complete the total-force chain. As Citizen Airmen, they bring the same combat capability our active-duty Air Force counterparts bring to the (area of responsibility) without missing a beat."

Crew chief duties are different at Balad compared to most other locations because here they work around aircraft with live munitions. Here, they are all loaded. Here, crew chiefs work any aircraft in order to support the flying mission, while back home, they are assigned to specific jets.

Being a crew chief at Balad is rewarding, according to Sergeant Brownlee. At most bases across the United States, a crew chief is responsible for one aircraft and its maintainers. In the area of responsibility, all crew chiefs work together as a team to make sure each alert jet that comes through is safely and quickly turned around or fully armed for mission success.

"We're proud to be part of that," Airman Brownlee quickly added.

Pausing, Sergeant Brownlee said, "It's good to see him confident in his work."  (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)