Family service spans NCO ranks

  • Published
  • By Tech Sgt. Barbara Plante
  • 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Anyone who has ever served in the Air Force knows it feels like being part of a large family. For one group of servicemembers, it's a fact. With more than a century of combined service and careers stretching over five decades, these family members have all NCO ranks covered.

Chief Master Sgt. Stephen Plante, 944th Fighter Wing Mission Support Group superintendent, originally from Miami, Fla., joined the Air Force right after high school in 1975. He spent his first four years of service on active duty in the maintenance career field. When he left the service, he worked in the civilian sector but was soon drawn back to the military as an air reserve technician in 1980. He accepted a job at the newly formed 944th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base in 1986 where he later met his future wife.

Tech. Sgt. Barbara Plante, 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs NCO-in-charge, and her two nieces, Senior Master Sgt. Kathleen McCool, a flight chief in recruiting services stationed in California, and Staff Sgt. Kathryn Jolly, assistant NCO-in-charge of installation personnel readiness at Eielson AFB, Alaska, are all native Arizonans.

As a traditional Reservist, who currently works full time in a Defense Department civilian public affairs position at Luke, Sergeant Plante is the late bloomer in the group. After working in civil service for 13 years and serving in locations such as Turkey and Guam, she accepted a position at the 944th Air Force Reserve Fighter Wing. Wanting to participate more, she became a uniformed member of the Air Force Reserve in 1997 at the age of 34.

Sergeant Kathleen McCool joined the Air Force in 1995 soon after high school graduation. Her first duty assignment brought her right back home to Luke in the medical administrative career field. She later met her future husband while serving as a training instructor at Lackland AFB, Texas. Sergeant Kathleen McCool will soon head to Randolph AFB, Texas, to join the Recruit the Recruiter team.

Master Sgt. Christopher McCool, also a flight chief in Recruiting Services, stationed in California, is from Corpus Christi, Texas. He began his Air Force career in 1991 in the maintenance career field working on C-130s and C-5s. He and his wife have both served as training instructors and recruiters at Lackland. Sergeant Christopher McCool will join his wife at Randolph this summer to be in the training and standardization branch of recruiting.

Master Sgt. Brian Jolly, NCO-in-charge electrical systems craftsmen stationed at Eielson, originally from Winnsboro, S.C., joined the Air Force in 1995 and was sent to Luke for his first duty assignment. While at Luke, Sergeant Jolly met Airman Kathleen Linderman (McCool) at a chapel gathering. She invited him home for Christmas dinner where he met her sister who later became his wife. Sergeant Jolly will be deploying for his third tour of duty in the desert later this summer.

Sergeant Kathryn Jolly, the youngest of the group, joined the Air Force in 1999, also right after graduating from high school. She too was assigned to Luke for her first assignment. After taking a break from the service to have two children, she rejoined her husband on active duty in 2006. Her current goal is to become an Airman Leadership School instructor at Eielson.

"It was a really special feeling to have my family members together and have
our picture taken in uniform while we still covered all the NCO ranks," Sergeant
Kathryn Jolly said.

When the family gets together the subject always turns to the Air Force.

"Whether we are sharing funny stories about basic training, comparing PT scores or taking advice from the chief (Uncle Steve), we always have a great time," Sergeant Kathleen McCool said.

"I am proud to have served our country for more than 34 years and to be part of the Air Force family," Chief Plante said. "I am even prouder and tremendously fortunate that I am able to share that with my wife, nieces and nephews."