CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Some Soldiers join the Army National Guard as a way to better their lives. Others join to learn a trade. Still others join to continue a family tradition of military service.
For the father/son team from Elkview, West Virginia, the Copleys, it's a combination of all of the above.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Lawrence Copley and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joseph Copley, pilots in 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment, West Virginia Army National Guard, deployed with the California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade to Camp Buehring Kuwait last December.
Lawrence, a Clarksburg, West Virginia, native, became the second generation in his family to join the military, after his father who served as a Marine in the Korean War. In 1980 Lawrence enlisted into the West Virginia Army National Guard as a heavy equipment operator.
But he wouldn't stay on this path for long. In 1982 he soon turned his gaze up to the sky. Pilots from the Vietnam generation were beginning to retire in large numbers, leaving a gap in the aviation community that needed to be filled.
"I always had an interest in flying," Lawrence said."One day I got off shift from work, and my section sergeant told me the West Virginia Guard needed pilots."
By 1984, Lawrence had graduated flight school as a helicopter pilot. He learned to fly with the TH-55 helicopter, and was among one of the first classes of Army helicopter pilots to have night vision flights incorporated into their training.
When Lawrence wasn't flying for the Guard, he flew commercial aviation. As a civilian pilot, he frequently had opportunities to fly his wife, daughter and son with him when travelling. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that his son Joseph would develop an interest in flight himself.
"Growing up, I was always in the airport as a kid," said Joseph, who was born in Charleston, West Virginia.
By the time Joseph was seven, Lawrence was already letting him practice as his copilot.
"He's been flying since he was too short to reach the pedals," Lawrence said.
As a senior in high school in 2007, Joseph began to explore ideas for his own military career. Lawrence gave him some contacts to discuss his options with. Just three days after graduating high school, Joseph enlisted as an integrated avionics technician in the West Virginia Air National Guard's 130th Airlift Wing, based out of Charleston.
While serving in the Air National Guard, Joseph deployed to Bagram Air Force Base, Afghanistan, in 2009 and again in 2010. But, like his father, Joseph couldn't stay away from the cockpit for long.
"What I really wanted to do was fly helicopters, particularly medevacs," Joseph said.
Joseph graduated Mountain State University in Beckley, West Virginia, with a degree in aviation management and enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2013.
After returning from Army basic training that August, Joseph married his wife before leaving home once again for the Warrant Officers Candidate School and flight school. In October, 2014, Joseph's daughter was born during his flight training.
In February, 2015, Joseph graduated flight school and took his long-awaited place as a pilot in Company C, 2-104 AVN. He wouldn't stay there for long, though. The unit, including both Lawrence and Joseph was already scheduled to deploy with the 40th CAB later that year.
Joseph was still new to the Army National Guard, but this would be his third federal deployment overseas. Though Lawrence had served in numerous missions within West Virginia and around the country, this would be his first federal deployment.
Despite being separated from their families back home, the Copleys, senior and junior, will be serving side-by-side for the duration of the 40th CAB's deployment.
"My Dad's always been supportive, and my wife is good with [me serving in the Army]," Joseph said."Everyone else grew into it."