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Basic Training to Al Udeid: Two Air Force careers reunited after 21 years

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Phil Speck
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing
AL UDEID AIRBASE, Qatar --  It all started in 1996. One kid from Prattville, Ala., and another from Baton Rouge, La., took a bus to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; both a little scared and excited to become the U.S. Air Force’s newest Airmen. Though they grew up in the South only about 400 miles apart and spent six weeks together in the same flight at Basic Military Training, their Air Force journeys separated them after graduation by thousands of miles and trips all around the world.

Twenty-one years later, the Air Force brought them together again.

Both assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron,
Maj. Nick Hardeman, the distribution flight commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Nathan McCoy, the chief enlisted manager, currently work together at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

Hardeman vividly remembers sitting in the day room on their first day of BMT with all of his flight mates as the military training instructors asked for volunteers for dorm chief and element leaders. Most trainees are too scared to speak up at first as they were told ‘don’t volunteer for anything’ before leaving for basic.

“What I remember about Nate is that he was the first one, raised his hand, stood proud, stood tall, and said he was the team captain for his basketball team,” Hardeman said. “Since day one, he’s always been the one to stand up and take the lead.”

Their flight was affectionately called the Bad News Bears and the two agreed they were out of the running of being honor flight graduates within the first week.

“If something could go wrong, we did it,” Hardeman said.

“The big reason I joined the Air Force was I didn’t have a whole lot of other options, and I thought ‘hey this might be cool’,” Hardman said. “I was that kind of kid. Yup, still here after this many years later.”

Both of them thought that they would get out of the military after their enlistments were up. But their Air Force careers turned into adventures that developed them personally and professionally.

“The camaraderie, the people you meet in certain places, you don’t get this in the civilian world. It’s all corporate, it’s all about the mighty dollar,” Hardeman added. “But in the military, it’s not about that. It’s about relationships.”

McCoy arrived at AUAB in June 2017 and Hardeman arrived a month later. However, it took a little time for the two prior flight mates to realize who each other was.

During McCoy’s promotion ceremony here, Lt. Col. Kellie Courtland, commander of the 379th ELRS, described the new chief’s military career and mentioned him showing up to BMT in July of 1996.

At that moment, Hardeman had a flashed back to that summer of ’96 and realized that he knew McCoy from basic training. After the ceremony, he rushed back to his room and pulled up his BMT flight photo confirming it was him.

“So he sent me the basic training photo, and he had himself and me circled,” said McCoy.

McCoy felt proud to have known Hardeman, both back in basic and now that he is a commander.

As commander, Hardeman has overseen many projects such as the new customs and immigration terminal here. He also directs vehicle operations, the base’s bus routes, aircrews that need to get out to their planes, the traffic management office that manages inbound and outbound cargo, and making sure military members get transportation when being forward deployed to other bases around the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.

“The way they have done business over there is through the roof,” McCoy exclaimed when talking about Hardeman’s flight. “You kind of fall back into ‘wow, that’s a guy I started with 21 years ago’,” McCoy said.

McCoy has stayed busy with his many duties here at AUAB as well. As the CEM, he has to stay in tune with and support the enlisted Airmen, who are commonly referred to as the ‘backbone of the Air Force.’ His job requires ensuring squadron members have everything they need, living quarters are in good condition, and training deficiencies and morale issues are taken care of. He pushes younger Airmen to expand their professional development and to take advantage of the opportunities they have here while they are deployed. He wants to pass on all of his knowledge to help mentor tomorrow’s Airmen of the U.S. Air Force.

“I take enjoyment in the fact that I can give back. I can ensure that the next Airman McCoy is ten times better than me. We have some bright kids in this Air Force now,” McCoy said.

“The person you are seeing right now was the same person that I saw in basic training,” Hardeman said. “The way he talks about pulling people together, being the cheerleader, he was that guy in our basic training flight. It’s no surprise that he’s a chief master sergeant.”

Though they were nicknamed the Bad News Bears, they both agreed they turned out to be pretty good in the end. Against all odds, they surprised everyone by winning the marching drill competition at BMT.

“We were resilient before it was a catch-phrase,” McCoy added.

Resilient still today, the Airmen plan to meet up after their deployment with their families.