An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | July 14, 2008

Face of Defense: Brothers Serve Together in Iraq

By Spc. Josh LeCappelain, U.S. Army Special to American Forces Press Service

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq - Deployments usually separate families, but for two brothers from Arkansas, deployment to Iraq actually brought them closer.

"We live about six miles apart [in Benton and Bryant, Ark.]," said Army 1st Sgt. Joe Snow, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 39th Brigade Combat Team, first sergeant. "Here, it's about 30 steps."

Snow is on his second deployment with his elder brother, Army Sgt. Maj. Jim Snow, 39th BCT operations sergeant major. The brothers previously deployed to Iraq in April 2004.

The bond between the brothers brought them both back to the Middle East; one was scheduled to return, but the other was not.

"I didn't want him here by himself," 1st Sergeant Snow said. "I didn't join the Army to sit on the sidelines."

"It's like when you're a kid and you're picking teams," Sergeant Major Snow said. "You don't want to be sitting on the sidelines when everyone's playing."

In the chaotic world of a constantly evolving war zone, the Snow brothers see some normalcy in each other.

"It's good to see him; I see home," the sergeant major said, noting that the inverse is true as well. "The pendulum swings both ways. If there was an attack, I'd want to know right away that he was OK. I would be worried about him."

The sergeant major echoed his concerns for his younger brother's safety and said he believes the deployments have brought them closer.

"It's easier for me, having him here," he said. "It gives me a source to vent to."

The Snows come from a long family history of military service. Their father spent time in the Navy, and their grandfather served in the Army.

Even with the Snow legacy of service behind them, they both agreed that it was tough on their families to have them both deploy at once.

"Our wives are pretty tight. It has the same effect on them as it does on us; they have someone there for them," said the first sergeant, currently on his fourth deployment.

"Our mom, "¦ she worries a lot," his brother said. "Dad worries too, he just doesn't tell anyone."

Neither brother ever expected to make a career out of the Army.

"I never expected to last past my initial enlistment," Sergeant Major Snow said. "I started looking for something, for my future."

"He was already in when I enlisted," said the first sergeant, who is seven years younger than his brother. "When I was a kid, I wanted two things: to be in the Army and to be a policeman. So, I enlisted as a military policeman."

As children, the age difference between the brothers kept a distance between them. After 1st Sergeant Snow's time in the active Army was over, he returned home and joined his brother in the National Guard. It was then that the brothers became closer.

"When I came home, that's when it transitioned and became more of a friendship than just a brotherhood," he said. "I was grown up then, not just a kid anymore."

The brothers see each other every day here, if only in passing. Both agreed that their favorite moments in this deployment have been the cookouts they've shared.

"Joe cooks every other week," the elder brother said. "It gives us a chance to throw the radios down and relax."

"It gives us our little 'out of the Army' moments," the first sergeant said.

The Snow brothers have about six months left on this deployment. Neither is sure how much longer they will serve in the National Guard upon their return to the United States.

But regardless of when their service to their country ends, they said, they always will have the satisfaction of knowing that they did it together -- as soldiers, as brothers and as friends.

Note: Army Spc. Josh LeCappelain serves in the Multinational Division Center Public Affairs Office.

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...