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Deployed maintenance officer oversees planes his brother flies

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chance Babin
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  For Maj. James Jernigan and his brother, Capt. Geoffrey Jernigan, the Air Force and family go hand-in-hand. But, a unique opportunity to deploy at the same time, to the same location was a special occasion for the third generation Air Force officers.

James is the commander of the 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron and Geoffrey is a pilot with the 380th Expeditionary Operations Group.

"To have the opportunity to not only serve in the [area of responsibility] together, but also at the same installation and have an impact on one another [is great]," said James. "We have such a large impact on one another's personal and professional lives here. I've got maintainers that are turning wrenches on the jets he's going to fly each day."

For Geoffrey, having his older brother in maintenance has given him a greater understanding of how Air Force operations fit together to support the mission.

"Being an operator and having a brother on the other side of the house in maintenance gives me an appreciation for what his guys do -- which I appreciate every day because I'm flying these airplanes and they work 99.9 percent of the time," Geoffrey said. "Also, it gives me an appreciation for how hard he has to work and the level of responsibility he has to be able to get airplanes in the air."

For James, it's intriguing to see how the different paths he and Geoffrey have taken in their careers still affect one another.

"We kind of cover the whole gamut of operations and maintenance," James said. "So, even though we are not together or seeing each other on a regular basis, I still think it's a neat thing to think about, to understand the roles that we play and where we've ended up."

James has taken his job in maintenance much more personally since his brother became a flyer. It has made him much more aware of the importance of the work his maintainers are doing.

"It's weird for me as a big brother to think [about my brother flying]. He's got a high risk job. I always listen to the radio when he's flying," James said. "The job my guys do makes sure he can do his job."

James will often use his brother as an illustration when talking to his maintenance troops.

"As a commander it's been incredibly useful to be able to use the 'lil' bro here as an example of why we need to do quality maintenance," James said. "I've used that example for the last two years. It's nice to use a personal antidote to try to push quality maintenance. It's been a useful tool professionally."

The two brothers each rely on the other for different things in their careers.

"I lean on him," Geoffrey said. "With career questions and issues about progression I definitely go to him and say 'hey what do you think about this?' I knock ideas off of him because he's obviously been successful. He's a good role model for me to pattern myself after or look to for advice."

For James, having insight into the world of operations has helped him as a maintenance officer.

"It's important once you get to my level to be able to see things from a different perspective and he's done a great job of providing council to me on how operators look at things," James said. "It's enabled me to learn much faster and helped me immensely to develop my officers by providing insight to how operators function, their concerns, how they view the world, the criticality of things they do up there."

While deployed to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Geoffrey had the opportunity to narrate his brother's change of command ceremony. It was a proud family moment, the brothers said.

"You've got to be proud of your sibling when he takes that responsibility," Geoffrey said. "I think seeing him as a leader is my proudest moment, versus the position and title. It's really his character and leadership that make me proud."

His big brother shares his sentiments.

"He has done very well for himself; he's proven himself as an officer, an operator, a warfighter and he's making a difference every day," James said. "I couldn't be any more proud as a brother."