An official website of the United States government
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.

Father, son come together in Iraq for career milestone

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Thomas Trower
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  Deployments can be difficult for servicemembers separated from their families, but the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing promotion ceremony held at Town Hall here July 31 brought one family together after more than a year and a half.

Newly promoted Staff Sgt. Markeven Swenson, a 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter here, received his NCO promotion from his father, Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Swenson.

Sergeant Markeven Swenson's interest in firefighting started early when he was inspired in elementary school.

"My son went on a school field trip to the base fire station in fifth grade while we were stationed at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan," said Sergeant Kevin Swenson, who is assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Regiment Headquarters and Headquarters Troop. "He came home and told me he wanted to be a fireman -- as most fifth-graders do."

But the draw of the firehouse did not stop there.

"When he was a junior in high school in Georgia, he started talking about going to an Air Force recruiter and signing up to go in as a Fire Dawg -- the rest is history," continued Sergeant Kevin Swenson. "I never had to push a bit. It was all his internal desire."

The promotion to staff sergeant is the first of three major milestones in an enlisted career, 332nd AEW Command Chief Master Sgt. David Williamson said to the 66 promotees.

But NCO induction wasn't always a ceremonious event. The Air Force has come a long way in highlighting this achievement, Sergeant Kevin Swenson said.

"I was promoted from senior airman to 'buck' sergeant (a discontinued NCO rank) in September 1985. There was no ceremony; I just (sewed on new stripes) before going to work," Sergeant Kevin Swenson said. "Even when I was promoted to staff sergeant, there wasn't a ceremony. I was still the lowest-ranking maintenance guy, and my responsibilities didn't change. Today's Air Force does a much better job of migrating our young NCOs into the flock."

"I saw all of my father's ceremonies as a kid," Sergeant Markeven Swenson said. "It means a lot to me that he could be here for mine. I didn't think it would be possible."
Sergeant Markeven Swenson, deployed from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., is a driver-operator for flightline incident responses and works the second run-engine for structural fires on Joint Base Balad.

His skills were recently put to the test when the JBB Fire Department prevented a major disaster by containing a two-alarm fire July 22. Six buildings were destroyed, but the response was "incredible," said Col. Sal Nodjomian, 332nd Expeditionary Support Group commander and senior officer on scene during the incident.

"Their textbook performance allowed us to minimize the damage caused and prevent any serious injuries. And to do it all in 117-degree weather shows the true professionalism of our joint team," the colonel said after the fire was contained.

Sergeant Kevin Swenson, deployed from Yokota Air Base, Japan, has served more than 26 years as a ground radio communications maintenance technician. His primary job is to maintain any communications system used to talk from the ground to aircraft.

Effort on both ends went into making this meeting possible. Because he's deployed for six months, Sergeant Kevin Swenson is may take a four day rest-and-relaxation break in the middle. Airmen normally travel to an area outside of the war zone for their R-and-R, but Sergeant Kevin Swenson, who's deployed to Forward Operating Base Marez, in Mosul, had better plans.

"Instead of (leaving the war zone), I went to Balad. All of my deployed supervisors were very supportive of the trip, and I thank them," Sergeant Kevin Swenson said.

"Unless you have kids, you have no idea what pride I feel to be the one to tack these stripes on my son," he added. "The move from the Airman tier to the NCO ranks is significant, and to be there when it happens in a war zone is even cooler."