A little slice of home

Published July 26, 2011
By Senior Airman Rachelle Elsea
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Becoming an Airman is both an honor and a privilege, but it is not without hardships. Many leave behind family and friends they have been with their whole lives and the opportunities to return home, to the comfort of those familiar faces, only present themselves a few times per year.

In a deployed environment, these chances become even less likely. But, for two lucky Airmen, the odds were in their favor.

Tech. Sgt. Candis McPherson, 387th Air Expeditionary Group resource advisor, and Staff Sgt. Janee Davis, 386th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron contracting officer, began their journey as friends in a North Carolina middle school and have now found themselves in a deployed location in Southwest Asia.

"We met sometime between 6th and 8th grade ... around 1994ish," said Davis. "I don't quite remember how we became friends, but we did. We remained friends beyond our graduation from Orange High School in June of 2000."

I had moved around a bit and changed schools a couple of times, but Candis is the only friend that I can remember keeping in touch with me the entire time, she added.

"She was the choir girl and I played sports like track, softball and basketball," said McPherson.

Directly following their graduation, they enlisted into the U.S. Air Force and were shipped off to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, where they endured six and a half weeks of basic military training.

"We didn't go in together, but we were in BMT around the same time," said Davis. "I graduated two weeks after she did."

Although they have never been stationed together, the Airmen have never failed to stay in contact.

"We have kept in touch throughout our entire Air Force careers via email and Facebook," said Davis. "We also see each other whenever we're both in North Carolina. Our husbands are cousins, so we get together during the holidays."

Both Airmen, have also been blessed with children.

"Our sons attend each other's birthday parties and just recently spent July 4th together," said McPherson."We also celebrated Janee's 27th birthday."

McPherson's homestation is Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., where she works as a maintenance supply liaison for the 911th Air Refueling Squadron, while Davis is out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, where she is a contracting specialist for the 647th Contracting Squadron. Even with thousands of miles between homes, they have still managed to visit each other and are eager to do so again in the future.

"She lives in Hawaii now, but we plan to visit soon," said McPherson. "It will be me and my husband's second trip to Hawaii."

When the sergeants discovered they would be deployed together, their enthusiasm was overwhelming.

"I had a 'short-notice' to come here and so did she," said McPherson. "This is my 6th deployment and I have always deployed by myself. I was happy to finally be deployed with someone I knew from home versus meeting new people. It's nice having a familiar face and someone to talk to, especially with us both having young sons."

Davis' response was equally thrilled.

"I was ecstatic because I've never deployed before," said Davis. "I immediately began writing her asking questions about how it was out here and what I needed to bring and such."

Now, reunited once again, it's as if they were never apart.

"We plan to go downtown, workout, go to the pool and play bingo together," said McPherson. "It's nice to have her to vent to and I'm lucky I'm able to share her first deployment experience with her. I already have her hooked on the dinging facility cookies."

Davis is grateful for this opportunity as well.

"Candis being here has been such a relief for me," said Davis. "I have someone to talk to about here, home, work, my son, my husband ... everything. "

McPherson has been deployed for more than a month and Davis just over a week, so they will share a majority of their deployment side by side.

This rare occurrence may seem minor to many, but for military members serving overseas and far from home it is a treasured gift.