F E AT U R E
Brother and Sister
Reunited Flying for the Air Force is a family affair
BY STAFF SGT. BETTY CHEVALIER 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs oining the U.S. Air Force involves a sacrifice of leaving home, parents and siblings without knowing when leave will allow for a reconnection. Add in multiple family members serving and the chance of hugging those loved ones can be extremely limited. For one family, a routine mission brought two siblings together thousands of miles from each of their duty stations. Capt. Jack “Shotgun” Miller, 62nd Fighter Squadron F-35A instructor pilot, and 1st Lt. Macy Miller, 6th Air Refueling Squadron KC10 pilot, each traveled for a temporary duty, with their missions coinciding at Tyndall Air Force Base.
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Sound of Freedom | MAY/JUNE 2022
The 62nd Fighter Squadron, out of Luke Air Force Base, spent approximately two weeks training out of Tyndall to complete part of the student pilot basic course syllabus. Training at Tyndall allows not only U.S. pilots, but also the joint partners within the 62nd Fighter Squadron for a more complex combat training environment than available at Luke due to the variety of airframes and airspace available in the Tyndall area. When it was time to head back to home station, they requested support of tanker aircraft to help get the 16 F-35A Lightning II aircraft, along with support equipment and personnel home. The 6th ARS, out of Travis AFB, California, took on the mission. “We got tasked to assist the 62nd [FS] moving all of their maintenance personnel, some of their pilots and their cargo,” Macy explains. “The KC-10 is able to take cargo passengers and drag the fighters from Tyndall to Luke so they don’t have to stop and
U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Macy Miller, 6th Air Refueling Squadron KC-10 pilot, and Capt. Jack “Shotgun” Miller, 62nd Fighter Squadron F-35A instructor pilot, greeting each other at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Jack and Macy, assigned to Luke AFB, and Travis AFB, California, respectively, ended up on temporary duty assignments at Tyndall, marking the siblings’ first-time meeting at a location away from either of their home stations while actively supporting a mission. (Staff Sgt. Betty R. Chevalier/U.S. Air Force/Submitted)
get fuel, theoretically.” “Dragging” jets means fighters and tankers fly across the country in unison, working together to refuel the fighters when necessary. This can save the units time, money and resources while also providing valuable training. “As important as it is getting dragged across the United States by a tanker, especially from Tyndall back to Luke, it also enables us to do student training on the back end of missions,” Jack says. “The tanker was able to drag the (F-35s) across the United States and dropped
