AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --
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.”