CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Soldiers who deploy overseas have a unique opportunity to meet and work side-by-side with fellow service members from all over the United States. The California National Guard’s 40th Combat Aviation Brigade, currently deployed to the Middle East, is no exception. Men and women from nine different states are attached to the 40th CAB, ranging from pilots, mechanics and fuelers working shifts around the clock to support regional training and stability operations.
However, this mission has also given long-standing members of local communities the opportunity to continue working and living together in uniform. Four citizens from Folsom, California – a policeman, a pilot, a teacher and a doctor – deployed together to Camp Buehring, Kuwait, with the 40th CAB.
“Even though we’re all in separate units, we end up working together,” said Lt. Col. Nader Araj, commander of Task Force Longknife, the 40th CAB’s aviation element. “We all know each other in the community, then put on the uniform and work together on a deployment.”
As the commander of Task Force Long Knife, Araj has a multifaceted responsibility. With more than 77 helicopters, fixed wing and remotely piloted aircraft, 1100 Soldiers from 12 different companies stationed in every country in the U.S. Command Central’s area of responsibility.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael DeCosta, an airfield safety officer for the 40th CAB, joined the California Guard in 1981 as an OH-58 helicopter crew chief. This was just the first step on DeCosta’s journey to achieve his dreams.
“Ever since I was 16, I wanted to be a cop and fly helicopters,” DeCosta said.
In 1986, DeCosta attended flight school and began flying UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. DeCosta also joined the California Highway Patrol in 1987, serving for 27 years before retiring in 2013.
Working as a CHP officer proved to be no easy task for a family man with a wife and three children. His duties on the force took him to beats up and down the state for extended periods away from home.
“It’s kind of like the military in that respect,” DeCosta said.
DeCosta deployed in 1998 to Bosnia, and in 2010 deployed to Afghanistan. He also regularly trained with and went on missions stateside.
“Having a civilian job that’s supportive of my military career was so important,” DeCosta said.
DeCosta isn’t the only one with an interest in flying. Araj, a San Francisco native, started his own National Guard career for that exact reason. Whenever he can take time from his role as the task force commander, Araj is doing what he loves best; flying UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
“I joined the military because I wanted to fly helicopters,” Araj said. “I can’t really explain why, that’s just what I’ve wanted to do my whole life.”
Araj, who holds a degree in Information Systems from Golden Gate University and an International Business degree from San Jose State University, started a successful information technology business in the San Francisco bay area. But after the 9/11 attacks, his civilian pursuits lost their luster.
“I wasn’t really feeling it, after the attacks, it was hard to care about peoples’ email anymore,” Araj said.
After discussing options with his wife, in 2003 Araj decided to apply to be a full-time Soldier in the California Guard. In 2009, Araj deployed to Afghanistan.
When not deployed, the father of three children is the maintenance officer at Mather Airfield and the director of Information management for the California National Guard in Sacramento.
“I got to build a maintenance facility from the ground up, during my first deployment in Afghanistan and I get to maintain and fly Army helicopters all over the world’ Araj said. “I’ve had a pretty awesome career.”
Capt. Eric Lancaster, the medical operations officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40th CAB, teaches science at Folsom’s Vista del Lago High School. Araj’s daughters currently attend there and DeCosta’s son just graduated from there. Born at Fort Dix, New Jersey, Lancaster was literally born into the Army.
“I was an Army brat,” Lancaster said.
In 1984, Lancaster enlisted in the Army as an AH-1 Cobra helicopter crew chief. In 1987, Lancaster left the Army and married in 1990.
Six years later, Lancaster was working toward his doctorate in chemistry. But the Army veteran began to have second thoughts in his chosen career field.
“I still wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do,” Lancaster said.
Lancaster may not have been sure what line of work he wanted, but his experiences as a graduate student had shown him the work he enjoyed; teaching.
“Teaching is fun, it doesn’t feel like work,” Lancaster said.
The chemist-turned-teacher enrolled at the California State University of Sacramento a few months later, graduating in 1998 with a teaching credential. He now had the best of both worlds; teaching chemistry at Cordova High School. In 2008, he transferred to Vista del Lago, where he plans to return after completing the deployment.
“What’s cool about this is he teaches one of my kids, now we’re both out here,” Araj said.
In 2003, Lancaster rejoined the military, this time as a Black Hawk mechanic in the California Guard. In 2006, he started the application process for a commission. Lancaster’s civilian background gave him the qualifications to also serve as an environmental officer for the California Guard medical detachment in Sacramento.
“It was my commander’s idea that since I had a degree in chemistry, I commission as an environmental science officer,” Lancaster said.
By the time he received his commission in 2008, the slot he had applied for was gone, so he adjusted and became a medical operations officer.
Like Lancaster, Phoenix native Lt. Col. Brian Goldsmith, the flight surgeon for 1st Battalion, 140th Aviation Regiment, has a family history of service to the nation. Goldsmith spent most of his childhood in Washington D.C. while his father worked in the Public Health Service.
In 1989, Goldsmith received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University in Maryland. After completing his residency at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center in 1993, Goldsmith was sent to the Letterman Army Medical Center on the Presidio of San Francisco, his top pick for a duty location.
“You don’t really expect to get your first choice, but in this case I did,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith’s career as a military physician was cut short in 2000, when his son was diagnosed with autism. Goldsmith began work as an oncologist at the Sutter Medical Center in Sacramento.
“Social issues pushed me out, but I always wanted to get back in,” Goldsmith said.
After his son turned 14 in 2012 and required a lesser degree of care, Goldsmith commissioned as a flight surgeon in the California Guard. After a refresher course at Fort Rucker, Alabama, Goldsmith began his new start in military service.
This month Goldsmith is scheduled to return home from deployment, and has been awarded an Army Commendation Medal for his accomplishments in his tour with the 40th CAB in Kuwait.
“I get to work with the medics a lot,” Goldsmith said. “I always loved it and have had a great time.”
Though Goldsmith is returning home, his friends and fellow Soldiers Araj, DeCosta and Lancaster have their own missions to complete before following him.
“I have to depend on the professional soldier to do their job no matter what their operational function is,” Araj said. “These guys have met and exceeded my expectation. I am proud to call them colleagues and friends. The life of a National Guard soldier is not easy but we all feel the same calling to serve a bigger purpose than our own lives.“