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A family legacy: 65 years in the making

432nd Wing Public Affairs

June 8, 2018 | 3:41

Many families connect through movie nights, snacking on popcorn, rooting for their favorite sports team or singing those '80s classics, but this major's family founded a tradition within the years they dedicated to the U.S. Air Force.

Script:
PHILLIP – “I’m captain Phillip, I am the chief of intel for the 732nd Ops Group, stationed at Creech Air Force Base.”
PHILLIP - “Being a third generation Airman is a wild trip. Just thinking through what my grandfather saw, what my dad saw, the different conflicts they were apart of, the different people that they met, the challenges they overcame - its very humbling and exciting to know that I’ve been given the opportunity to continue their legacy and to continue to serve our nation.”
PATRICK (Phillip’s father) - “When Phillip joined the military and I realized that he was going to continue our family’s tradition of being in the military, both my wife’s side and on my side it was just like, one more generation that’s going to keep this country safe.”
PHILLIP - “I commissioned instead of enlisting because I was afforded that opportunity out of high school to attend college through an ROTC scholarship and once I was in it, I realized it was about leading Airmen as an officer from day one and that’s what resonated most with me is taking care of people.”
JERRY (Phillip’s grandfather) - “My name is Jerry, I’m Phillip’s grandfather and I joined the Air Force in 1953. I felt very happy that he was following in the footsteps of his father as well as his grandfather.”
PHILLIP - “My father being in the Air Force was a huge inspiration to me. I got to see first-hand how passionate he was about taking care of his people, about what it meant to serve something larger than yourself but also taking care of the family and seeing how he balanced those things.”
PATRICK (Phillip’s father) - “They tell you in the military, it’s a small world and it really is. Phillip has run into people that I used to supervise and cross trained out of my career field or our career field and into his career field and then became his superintendent.”
PHILLIP - “I was born in Misawa Air Base, Japan, 1986 under the 432nd Tactical Fighter Wing. That eventually stood down and then moved into Creech and became the 432nd Wing and we just had our third son, born in the 432nd Wing at 4:32 p.m. so not only was he born at the right time, he and I were also born into the same wing.”
PATRICK (Phillip’s father) - “I’ve got six grandkids. If they join the military, great. If they don’t, great. But I think Phillip’s boys would be the one’s probably to do it, just because that’s the life they’re going to grow up in.”
PHILLIP - “Being given the opportunity to be an Airman is just incredible, it has afforded our family the opportunity to see so much of the world, to meet incredible people, to have stories that otherwise we never would have had. We’re very grateful, proud and excited for the opportunities to continue to influence other people’s lives for the better.”
PATRICK (Phillip’s father) - “He just amazes me every day the stuff that he does. I think that he’s going to show people in the military that he’s a pretty amazing young man.”
PHILLIP - “My hope for the future is to be able to be there for my family enough that when they look back on dad or husband being in the Air Force, that I was there. My dad was gone a lot growing up with deployments and TDYs but thinking back on it, he was always there when I needed him.”
JERRY (Phillip’s grandfather) - “It’s a good life. It was a good life for me, and for his father, so why not for him?”
PATRICK (Phillip’s father) - “He’s going to accomplish everything that is put in front of him. It’s going to be an amazing journey and I can’t wait to see it.”
PHILLIP - “I’m major Phillip. This is our Air Force story.”