POPE ARMY AIRFIELD, N.C -- A universal experience for active-duty Airmen is waiting with bated breath to learn their first duty assignment. Most Airman’s first duty station is far from home, whether it’s on the other side of the country or the other side of the world. The rarest side of active duty is being stationed just down the road from where you grew up.
Senior Airman Michael Meeks, 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group, command chief executive assistant, lived on Fort Bragg in North Carolina with his family before enlisting into the Air Force. Meeks joined the Air Force and placed Pope Army Airfield on his dream sheet just in case and had low expectations of returning to Fort Bragg to be with his family. When the day came to see what his first assignment was, he found out he was being sent back to Fort Bragg in August, 2022.
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Meeks. “What were the odds?”
The Meeks family serving on Bragg started a few years before Michael Meeks arrived. His father, Master Sgt. Joshua Meeks, 16th Military Police Brigade, transportation supervisor, and his uncle, Sgt. 1st Class Jarod Meeks, 18th Airborne Corps, quality assurance officer, received orders to Bragg in 2020. The family lived together for two years before Senior Airman Meeks enlisted in the Air Force. The brothers enlisted in the early 2000’s a few years apart and made it a goal to be stationed at Fort Bragg together. It took 20 years for their orders to match Fort Bragg.
“It's a security blanket,” said Joshua Meeks. “I guess, sometimes you kind of take it for granted”
Having family within proximity is one of the first things active-duty members realize is a sacrifice for service. Something as simple as holiday plans, or a short notice family emergency, could require hours of driving or a long plane flight. Being able to have family near for mundane moments or milestones is support that is missed when gone.
“Most people have to travel quite a distance to go see their family,” said Michael Meeks. “It can be very beneficial just having them right down the road. So, if I needed to lean on them for something or need help, I could. For example, when I moved out of the dorms and into my new town home, I was able to lean on them.”
Joshua Meeks is leaving for the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy after five years together at Fort Bragg with his brother and son. The years together at Fort Bragg are treasured as the family continues to serve together across the bases and branches. The uniform is a way to mark brothers and sisters in arms in any armed service in the United States, but sometimes the ties are more than what is worn.
“It’s very patriotic,” said Michael Meeks. “I think it’s really cool that we’re all in one place and we’re able to serve. And yes, we are in different branches, but we are all military.”
A reason the three are connected, other than being family, is through the oath of enlistment. Enlisting in the military, no matter the branch, requires a level of sacrifice and mental toughness. It also requires service members to adopt similar core values they all share.
The military understanding between Joshua Meeks and Jarod Meeks is very in tune due to their enlistment dates being so close together and both serving in the Army.
“We're only two and a half years apart,” said Jarod Meeks, “He's [Joshua Meeks] three years my senior in the military. This entire path after high school has been military. So, we walk and talk in the same exact language. Our brains are in the same mindset on a majority of everything.”
Within the Army, integrity, honor and duty are woven throughout each mission. So as the sixth generation of the Meeks enlisted in the Air Force instead of the Army, his enlistment was a little different. Michael Meeks was statistically more likely to join the military than the average person. Joshua Meeks’ career in the Army was closely timed with Michael Meeks’ birth. Michael Meeks grew up as an Army child and watched his father’s service firsthand.
In 2024, over half of military dependent teens surveyed said they plan to enlist compared to the 10 percent of civilian children who expressed a future in the military. Though Michael Meeks started his journey not focused on joining the military, after considering attending college, he changed his mind once he understood the benefits associated with enlisting.
“So initially, it was the Marine Corps that Michael talked to,” said Joshua Meeks. “He had shaken hands with the Marine recruiter and the Army just took too long to release some medical records for him. So, in the meantime, his grandfather, on my wife's side, had talked to him, because he's retired Air Force, and then Michael had Marines basically take him to the Air Force recruiter, and then it's kind of history from there.”
Joshua Meeks may be in a different branch and job than his son, but he helped his son pick a job and advised him on how to succeed in the military. Knowledge like that isn’t confined to one branch.
“I had security forces as my number one job choice,” said Michael Meeks. “He [Joshua Meeks] had encouraged me to change it to something else. I am glad I did. My current job ended up being my new number one pick. The career field was much better suited to me as a person and has worked out very well for me.”
“We are in different branches,” explained Michael Meeks. “But, the military wisdom that comes with being in[enlisted] transcends what branch you are in, since after all, we are all in the military or joint force.”
As Michael Meeks goes through his Air Force career working a different job in a different branch compared to his father, a military connection is added to their father and son bond. No matter the branch and differences in military careers, their family connection will always be first and foremost.