Marine Sgt. Mary Costa, a Female Engagement Team leader, speaks to village elders at the sight of school construction near Forward Operating Base Dehli. FET teams specialize in speaking to members of the population that male military members cannot engage due to customs and traditions, such as women and children.

DVIDS
Story by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Marasky

For one pair of siblings, the mission of helping to rebuild Afghanistan for the future is a family affair, even as they are separated by distance.

Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Adam Powars, 38, a husband and father of two, is serving on a Provincial Reconstruction Team in the Kunar province, while his sister, Marine Sgt. Mary Costa, 34, a wife and mother of three, serves on a Female Engagement Team in the Helmand province.
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Collegeville, Pa., natives, U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Kimball and U.S. Army Pvt. Logan Yost, pose for a photo, May 3, at Forward Operating Base Lightning in Afghanistan's Paktya province. The siblings are both serving on a deployment together in Afghanistan. Yost, an Infantryman, and Kimball, a mechanic, are both assigned to Company B, 82nd Division Special Troops Battalion, out of Fort Bragg, N.C. Photo by Airman 1st Class Laura Goodgame

“My brother was my best friend growing up, he was all I had. I didn’t have the picture perfect childhood,” said U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Kimball, 20, a mechanic assigned to Company B, 82nd Division Special Troops Battalion out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

“After my grandmother passed away when I was 11, I was fostered into my brother’s family,” said Kimball, whose brother is U.S. Army Pvt. Logan Yost, 21, an infantryman assigned to the same unit. “My brother always took me under his wing.”

Kimball had plans to go to college after high school, but could not afford it. After hearing about the Army G.I. Bill the Collegeville, Pa., native, decided to go see a recruiter.

“The recruiter mentioned the opportunity to go Airborne; being of competitive nature it intrigued me. I talked it over with my brother. He did not want me to go alone, so we both joined the Army together,” she said.

After graduating Army basic training and Airborne School, the siblings ended up being placed in the same airborne unit.

“My brother and I were not at Fort Bragg long before the both of us deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” Kimball explained.

Since being in Afghanistan, both Kimball and Yost have been on several missions together and both made sure the other is taken care of.

“Sometimes we would be outside the wire for several days in a row, at night we would all take turns staying awake to pull security. When it was Jessica’s turn I would go sit with her to keep her company so she wouldn’t be alone,” Yost said.

His sister also returned the favor when it was his turn for security detail.

“I feel for anyone who has siblings in the military. We are lucky to have gotten stationed together, because most of the time siblings get split up and sent half way around the world from each other,” Yost said.

Although the siblings were already close when they joined the military, their time in Afghanistan has made their bond stronger.

“The deployment has brought us closer together,” said Kimball. “It is like a hardcore friendship, and it is comforting to know someone has your back in a foreign country away from anything we’ve ever known.”

DVIDS
Story by Airman 1st Class Laura Goodgame

Capt. Christopher Divyak, 71st Expeditionary Air Control Squadron, is deployed alongside his sister, Tech. Sgt. Katherine Divyak, also of the 71st EACS. The brother and sister pair are natives of Tomah, Wis., and deployed from the Wisconsin Air National Guard in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jason Edwards

When brothers and sisters spend their entire childhoods together, they normally want to go their separate ways when they reach adulthood. Some join the military, but most remain civilians.

For some siblings, they not only join the military, they find themselves deployed to the same location more than 6,000 from where they grew up.

Two such siblings are Staff Sgt. Shawn and Senior Airman Nicholas Klein. They are brothers assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Group. Klein is deployed from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Air Reserve Station, Minn., while Airman Klein is deployed from Grand Forks AFB, N.D.

Although they are members of different squadrons, being deployed in the same area of responsibility at the same time has actually increased the time the brothers spend together, especially after arranging to have the same day off. “I haven’t had the opportunity to spend this much time with my brother since he joined the Air Force in 2004,” said Sergeant Klein, a native of Delano, Minn.

“Not that it makes a deployment any less stressful, but it does make it more enjoyable,” he said. “It is nice to be able to work out, run, and talk together. It’s kind of like catching up on old times with a friend you hadn’t seen in a while.”

Having deployed here once before, Airman Klein welcomed the chance to help Sergeant Klein during his first deployment to Southwest Asia. “I was happy to come back here and be able to spend time with my brother,” Airman Klein said. “The saying ‘home is where the heart is’ comes to mind since I’ve known my brother my whole life and just having him here in the same place makes it seem more like home.”

Since Sergeant Klein is active-duty while Airman Klein is a reservist, their being deployed together was rather unique. For the following members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard deployed here from Volk Field, Wis., as part of the 71st Expeditionary Air Control Squadron, deploying with a sibling is a bit more common.

Staff Sgts. Seth and Robbie Swieter are natives of Onalaska, Wis. and have served together for four years. Robbie said his decision to join the Air Force was influenced by his brother.

“Since Seth was active-duty Air Force he convinced me to go Blue too,” Robbie said, referring to the time he made his decision to join the military.

Even though they are assigned to the same unit, they don’t work in the same shop and, in fact, are on different shifts.

“We actually see each other more back home since we live together,” Robbie said.
While they may not have much time together off-duty, Robbie said that having his brother does help with the stress of a deployment.

“He knows when something is on your mind without a word ever being spoken,” he said, “that is the difference between a Wingman and a sibling.”

Capt. Jeannie Horn also joined the Air Force following a brother, Capt. Michael Western.

“After she learned about the Air National Guard and what it had to offer, it was an easy decision to jump on board,” said Captain Western of his sister, both of whom hail from Boyd, Wis.

The brother and sister captains also don’t have much time to see each other during their deployment.

“We have both been amazingly busy,” Captain Horn said. “we only see each other in passing.” However, Captain Horn said not having much time to see her brother isn’t a problem.

“We are both independent,” Captain Horn said. “Mike is working on improving his run time and I am taking some classes.”

While Captains Western and Horn don’t mind not seeing each other, Capt. Christopher Divyak and his sister Tech. Sgt. Katharine Divyak see each other very often. They work in the same shop on the same shift.

Sergeant Divyak explained further. “We sit on-scope [monitoring radar screens] together at the same time but do different jobs,” she said. “It only gets confusing when someone yells ‘Hey, Divyak!’”

The Divyaks have deployed together before to Afghanistan. Captain Divyak said that working with a sibling is no different than any other person in the Air Force. “We respect each other’s position and rank,” the Tomah, Wis., native said.

Sergeant Divyak agreed with her brother. “I don’t get any special treatment from him,” she said. “If anything, he’ll come to me first when there’s work to be done. Our co-workers get in a good laugh waiting to see how I’ll address him.”

Captain and Sergeant Divyak both agree that being deployed together keeps the stress down and Captain Divyak cited one more benefit to having his sister with him.

“It saves Ma and Pa postage since they only have to send one package to cover both of us!”

DVIDS
Story by Senior Airman Michael Matkin

Sgt. Andrea Wieseler chats with her brother, Chief Warrant Officer Heath Wieseler, during her visit to COB Speicher Aug. 13. Andrea and Heath spent a few days together after not seeing each other for more than two years. Photo by Rich Kemp

Deployments usually separate servicemembers from their families. However, for one U.S. Soldier here, it provided the chance to reunite with her brother.

Sgt. Andrea Wieseler, a telecommunications sergeant with the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division, hadn’t seen her brother, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Heath Wieseler, in more than two years. Heath, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot, is serving here with the 10th Mountain Division’s 10th Aviation Regiment. Upon hearing this, Andrea’s supervisors allowed her some time to meet up with her brother.

“I have been waiting for this since the day I arrived in Iraq,” Andrea said.

Although Heath knew Andrea would possibly get the opportunity to come and see him, she surprised him early. He was on a mission to drop off passengers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad. At the last moment, he was informed he was to pick up passengers to take back to COB Speicher, not knowing one of those passengers was his sister.

They flew to COB Speicher and after Heath landed the helicopter, they greeted each other with a hug and the emotions started to flow.

“It caught me by surprise when I looked back to see her get on the helicopter,” Heath said.

It turned out they were able to spend a few days to catch up on old times and have some great laughs.

“Everything worked out perfect,” said Andrea. “I was so happy to have him pick me up in his helicopter; he is a real hero to me.”

Heath has traveled a lot in his 16 years of active duty. Military training and travel have prevented him from returning to his hometown of Howard Lake, Minn., to see his family.

“It was so great to have Andrea around,” Heath said. “It was nice to be with family, someone you can share common things and talk about family back in Minnesota.”

The two of them spent time talking, laughing and sharing events of the past two years. Heath talked about his wife Geri and sons Tyler and Trevor, while Andrea shared her experiences of the deployment so far and the friendships she has made.

“I was so excited; it was a dream come true,” Andrea said. “I waited a long time for this.”

MNF-I
By Rich Kemp,
Multi-National Division – South