An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

A boom and his boys

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ciara Wymbs
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

Being deployed can be difficult on families; someone is always missing something important in their life back home; holidays, birthdays, soccer games or even being there when a child loses their first tooth.

For U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Brian Dillon, 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, this time around on his deployment, he got lucky.

He deployed again this year, but this time two of his three boys are right by his side.

Dillon joined the Air Force in 1981; he has traveled across the world and has had a part in every major operation the USAF has taken part in since that time. His father was also a Korea and Vietnam War veteran, who served 25 years in the Air Force.

After graduating basic training in 1982, and being on active duty for four years as a crew chief, Dillon transitioned to the Air National Guard.

In his early years, Dillon remembers coming home to curious children, anxious to know what their father had been away doing.

“It would be a three against me wrestling match. My daughter would wedge herself in between them and hug me until she was satisfied,” said Dillon. “Then, they would pile on me and want to hear everything I had done.”

In 1996, he decided he needed a career change.

Dillon became a boom operator; he says that is where he felt he belonged all along.

“I have been in every conflict since Grenada,” Dillon recalls. “In 2001, I was on the first New York ANG tanker that launched on alert over the World Trade Center.”

In 2007, Dillon rounded up his family and they moved to Topeka, Kansas, where he is part of the 190th Air Refueling Wing. That is where his three sons also joined the Air Force.

For one of his boys, he says all he knows is that his dad is in the military.

“Him being gone for a few months at a time was just a part of growing up,” says Staff Sgt. Matthew Dillon, 340th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief. “He would bring home a t-shirt for me and brothers and the spicy cinnamon smell of big red chewing gum.”

This isn’t the first deployment Matthew has shared with his dad, but for his baby brother, Adam, it is.

“It’s beneficial being deployed with family,” said Airman 1st Class Adam Dillon, 340th EAMXS crew chief. “Especially because they know the ins and outs of the places I go, which makes things easier to get used to.”

The Dillon’s agree they have always been very tight-knit; all working crazy hours but find time to hang out in their free time.

“I, my dad and my brother have always been close,” said Matthew. “It’s kind of like having my best friends here while deployed.”

At the end of the day, being able to catch up face to face while deployed is priceless.

“As many birthdays and Christmases I have missed over the years, getting to spend time on a deployment with my sons is indescribable,” said the eldest Dillon. “And going out to fly and one of my sons is there to recover me, is definitely a proud father moment.”