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Pardun their deployment

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Emily F. Alley
  • 451st AEW Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  In the last few weeks of 2010 Staff Sgt. Bethany Pardun, working in her office at Barksdale Air Force Base, had a choice. She was told she could deploy to either Guam or Afghanistan.

She chose Afghanistan- even thought it didn't have the beaches, the mission intrigued her and she felt that she could learn more about her career field, military intelligence. As soon as she made her choice, she recalled that her brother, Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Pardun, was also deploying to Afghanistan.

They spent Christmas with their family, excited to know that they would be spending six months together in Kandahar.

"My parents were elated," said Bethany, "But my mom worries."

She found her brother on her first day at Kandahar Airfield in early March. When she walked into the dining hall, she saw a soldier wearing the same patches she knew her brother wore.

"He ended up being right next door," she recalled.

Her brother is one of a large group of soldiers, Alpha Company, 7th Battalion, who deployed together to work on helicopters. In comparison, Air Force Staff Sgt. Pardun is the only one from her office, the 451st Expeditionary Operations Group, deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base. Besides her brother, she didn't know anyone in the country when she arrived. It's an example of difference between the two branches.

"The mentality, it's just different," Bethany reflected. "We'll talk about the same thing, but use a completely different word."

Outside their offices, near two beat up Soviet armored vehicles, relics of Afghanistan's previous wars, Army Staff Sergeant Pardun, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter inspector, pointed at a helicopter as it left the ramp.

"What is that?" he quizzed her.

"An HH-60," she answered.

"What does the H stand for?" he asked.

"Helicopter and search and rescue," she replied.

She explained that she's been fascinated to learn more about helicopters, since she works so closely with them. Her brother is happy to help teach her.

"We didn't get along as well when we were younger," Bethany admitted.

"Now we have something more to relate to," Matthew added.

He had deployed to Iraq, Korea, and once previously to Afghanistan and had teased her since she'd never deployed before.

"Now he can't hold it over my head," she joked.

Even though they work so close to each other, they described their jobs as two different worlds. Although they deployed to the same location, Matthew didn't have much advice to share, but Bethany was content to just have him around.