Face of Defense: Dad Takes Oath From Son After Service Break

VALDOSTA, Ga., Aug. 11, 2011 — Nine­teen years after sep­a­rat­ing from the active duty Air Force, Scott Long enlist­ed into the Reserve. Now he’s a staff sergeant, serv­ing with the 476th Main­te­nance Squadron as a fuel sys­tems crafts­man.

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Army 2nd Lt. Bran­don Long, right, admin­is­ters the oath of enlist­ment to his father, Scott Long, in Val­dos­ta, Ga., July 28, 2011.
U.S. Air Force pho­to by Staff Sgt. Jamal D. Sut­ter
Click to enlarge

Long’s son, Army 2nd Lt. Bran­don Long, 1–169th Avi­a­tion Sup­port Bat­tal­ion liai­son offi­cer, presided over the July 28 ceremony. 

“When I decid­ed to re-enlist, I was look­ing into the future,” said the elder Long, 51. “I always regret­ted get­ting out, even though it was the right deci­sion at the time.” 

Before his sep­a­ra­tion in 1992 after 11 years of ser­vice, Long was sta­tioned in numer­ous coun­tries and states, final­ly set­tling down at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. 

“What makes Sergeant Long a spe­cial case is that he has a 19-year break in ser­vice,” said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jef­frey Walk­er, East­ern Recruit­ing Squadron line recruiter. “He will bring back knowl­edge and her­itage to the new­er gen­er­a­tion of airmen.” 

Lieu­tenant Long was hap­py to have the chance to pre­side over his father’s re-enlist­ment ceremony. 

“It’s a spe­cial event, and a rare oppor­tu­ni­ty to do a re-enlist­ment cer­e­mo­ny as a young offi­cer, espe­cial­ly for my father,” he said. “I’m real­ly hap­py for him. He has been talk­ing about re-enlist­ing for a long time, and he is hap­py to have the chance to serve his coun­try again.” 

The lieu­tenant, who is wait­ing to leave for pilot train­ing, was com­mis­sioned in May dur­ing a cer­e­mo­ny in which his father pinned on his rank. 

“It has been a dream of mine to serve in the mil­i­tary ever since I was young,” the lieu­tenant said. “I real­ly want­ed to join the Air Force, but my col­lege only had an Army ROTC pro­gram. I got a slot for pilot train­ing in the Army, and I have always want­ed to fly, so it did­n’t mat­ter which service. 

“My father’s ser­vice def­i­nite­ly influ­enced my deci­sion to join the mil­i­tary,” he added. “It’s a fam­i­ly lega­cy. His father was a Marine in World War II, and my oth­er grand­fa­ther was in the Navy.” 

At more than 50 years old and 19 years after leav­ing active duty, Sergeant Long faced chal­lenges when re-enlisting. 

“The biggest chal­lenge in re-enlist­ing after all this time was mak­ing sure I was phys­i­cal­ly fit,” he said. “You also have to make sure you are still med­ical­ly qualified.” 

Only a few months after his son’s com­mis­sion­ing and 19 years after leav­ing active duty, Long is glad to be back in uniform. 

“I am just proud to have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to serve my coun­try again,” he said, “and con­tribute more than just my tax dollars.” 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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