Though family lineages in military service aren’t uncommon, the Paxtons stand out for the way three generations chose to spend part of their Air Force careers.Paxton is now going down the same path chosen by his father and grandfather as a military training instructor."Even when I was in high school, I knew I was going into the Air Force," said Paxton, who serves in the 323rd Training Squadron. "And I always knew at some point I was going to be a TI, because I thought it would be cool to be a third-generation TI." The Paxtons’ military training instructor lineage started in 1970, when the sergeant’s grandfather, Jack Paxton, arrived here from Vietnam. He joined the Air Force in 1954 to leave West Virginia, he said, "because there was really nothing for me there.â€Â He spent four years as a military training instructor here before retiring and taking a civilian job on the base. It wasn't long after his father’s retirement before Jack Paxton Jr., one of six children, followed his lead into Air Force blue. "About a year after high school [in 1978], Dad woke me up one morning and said, 'You've got an appointment at the recruiter's office,'" the younger Jack Paxton said. "I didn't know what I wanted to do -- my dad nudged me along. If I could go back and do it all over again, I'd do the same thing." The "same thing" translated into an Air Force career. Twenty-two years later, he retired as a senior master sergeant. He spent eight of those years as a training instructor, section supervisor and superintendent. "I knew I wanted to be a TI because I grew up with my father being a military training instructor," he said. "The same thing with Jason -- he was around this environment when I was an MTI." Jason, who joined the Air Force in 2001, arrived here after deciding the time was right to apply for a military training instructor position. He was certified as an MTI in June. Perhaps it was destiny calling when Paxton was assigned to the 323rd TRS. The squadron is housed in the same recruit housing and training building where his father spent six years in the MTI corps. But that's not the only connection. Jack Paxton Jr. was the MTI for his son's current supervisor. So when the three generations of Paxtons gathered at the squadron recently, it was like coming home. "Jason runs into people all the time who knew me," the sergeant’s father said. "When I see what Jason's going through, it brings me back. And every time I walk in this building, it's like nothing's changed. "I saw some trainees at parade rest [while I was coming in], and I almost yelled at them," he added with a laugh. But his personality and that of his father suggest otherwise. "Anybody who meets Dad and Grandpa knows they are very, very laid back -– big time," Paxton said. "Dad never brought it home. And if I didn't know, I'd have never thought Grandpa was a TI." His father quickly agreed about his own father. "People look at Dad as the nicest guy in the world," he said. The sergeant’s grandfather said he enjoyed being an instructor and remembers his time here. "I still go back to the TI business in my dreams,â€Â he said. “It never leaves you. Sometimes I wake up marching, 'Hut, two, three, four.' Some of it is TI and [some is from Vietnam experiences]." All three Paxtons agree job satisfaction far outweighs the long hours and demands involved in being a military training instructor. "Three generations of TIs … says something about the career field," Jack Paxton Jr. said. "I'd do it all over again. This was by far the best job I ever had." Feb. 7, 2011: By Mike Joseph- 502nd Air Base Wing

“My best friend from childhood and I honed our hunting and fort-building skills in the woods,â€Â he said. After high school, Weiland contemplated what he’d do for a living. He eventually contacted a Marine Corps recruiter to visit him at his parents’ home. “What time is he going to be here?â€Â asked his father, Norm, in reference to the recruiter. Until then, Weiland said, his family didn’t have a clue that he was considering joining the Marines. His father was more than proud of him for joining the military, he added, but he wanted to ensure that he was doing it for the right reasons. “He told me to find a skill that would follow me for the rest of my life,â€Â Weiland said. Weiland’s father, Norm, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1965, serving as a KY-8 radio technician and a helicopter door gunner. Stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., multiple locations in Vietnam, and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. Weiland’s father traveled and experienced quite a bit in his four years of service. “He never really told me to join or expected me to join. It’s always what I’ve wanted to do,â€Â Weiland said. “I remember when I was 9 or 10 seeing my dad’s box of medals, and I was like a kid in a candy store. It was definitely a determining factor.â€Â Like his father, Weiland joined the Marines. In 1996, he was assigned to his first duty station, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, as an EA-6B Prowler aircraft technician, at the age of 19. He deployed three times during his first enlistment, twice to Aviano Air Base, Italy, in support of Operation Deliberate Guard and Operation Allied Force and once to Japan. As a sergeant in the Marine Corps and with time dwindling away on his first term, Weiland had another important decision to make. He decided to depart the Marine Corps and began college. “I didn’t like what I was studying and realized the Corps was a better fit for me, but I knew if I came back in that I probably wouldn’t be a noncommissioned officer, so I had to do something different,â€Â he said. “So I did some research, talked to my dad quite a bit, and decided on the platoon leaders course in 2003.â€Â Commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2006 with a degree in physical geography from the University of Wisconsin, Weiland headed to flight school. “I was sitting there going through the numbers with a few of my buddies at flight school,â€Â Weiland said, “and I realized there was a decent chance for me to go to Marine Aircraft Group 14 again.â€Â Weiland found himself assigned to Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4 again, this time as an officer. “I thought it was a joke at first, but it wasn’t, and it started to sink in like I never left in the first place,â€Â he said. “I thought sarcastically to myself, ‘Oh I’m back at this place again.’â€Â His first time with the Seahawks was as a Prowler electrician, and the second time as an electronic countermeasures officer. “I spent four years of my life maintaining the aircraft, when all I wanted to do was see what it is like to fly in it,â€Â he said. “Then I realized I had to go through flight school just for that.â€Â Thirteen years after he first stepped into the squadron’s hangar, he returned to see several familiar, albeit older, faces -– Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Daen J. Glover, for example. “Captain Weiland was always someone I looked up to and tried to emulate when he was enlisted,â€Â said Glover, who has known Weiland for 12 years. “I was confused when he got out as a sergeant and went to college, because he was an outstanding Marine,â€Â Glover continued. “But I’m glad he decided to come back, and now both our squadron and the Marine Corps are better off with a Marine of his caliber.â€Â Weiland said his life is prosperous, as he is happily married to his wife, Neva, and he has three children: Brandon, Aidon and Elizabeth. He also has a unit full of old work buddies as he pursues a profession that allows him to fly and work with young Marines. “I definitely have a unique perspective of what it is to be an enlisted Marine,â€Â Weiland said. “It has benefitted me as an officer, and really all you need to do is think about it like a lance corporal does, and you’ll get the job done.â€Â Feb. 4, 2011: By Marine Corps Cpl. Samuel A. Nasso- Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point

"She laughed at me for my dream of going to West Point, telling me it would be impossible because I wasn't an American and Uganda had no ties to the U.S.," he recalled. "I still remember that to this day."The 13th of 14 children raised by an Indian father and an African mother, D'costa was exiled to Austria at age 7 following Idi Amin's 1971 rise to power in Uganda. Two years later, he came to the United States and ultimately got into West Point on a third and final attempt, earning his commission in 1989. Now a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, D’costa just completed a 10-month mobilization here as commander of 1st Battalion, 378th Infantry Regiment, a Lafayette, La.-based unit activated to augment basic combat training for the 192nd Infantry Brigade on Sand Hill. "When we talk about the diversity of soldiers across our Army, Lieutenant Colonel D'Costa's life story is one that tells a great story and serves as a motivational and inspiring example for our soldiers, [Defense Department] civilians and the nation's civilian population," said Army Lt. Col. Roger O'Steen, the brigade's executive officer. Shortly after Amin seized the Ugandan presidency in a military coup, D'costa's mother fell ill with pneumonia-like symptoms. Because of her religious faith, however, she didn't get proper treatment as Amin decreed that anyone who was not a Muslim would get sent to the back of the line for health care. She died at age 42. "For me, it was very devastating, to realize the person I depended on so much was no longer there," said D'costa, who was 6 years old at the time. He said Amin then declared that anybody who wasn't 100 percent black had a choice: leave Uganda or face execution. D'costa's father fled to India. A brother and sister got sent to Italy, and D’costa took exile in Austria with five other siblings. Three stayed behind. "I was half, so I was considered impure and had to leave," he said. "Here's a black man saying, 'You are not the perfect race.' When you experience racism from your own race, … I was not expecting that. "Idi Amin was killing so many innocent people when they weren't leaving the country fast enough,â€Â he continued. “Books were burned. Even educated blacks got killed, because they were considered threats to Amin." The "Butcher of Uganda," as Amin became known, ruled over the nation for eight years. The number of opponents killed, tortured or imprisoned varies from 100,000 to a half million, according to biographical accounts. The dictator was ousted in 1979 by Ugandan nationalists, and he fled into exile. In Austria, a Catholic priest looked after D'costa, who spoke Swahili in Uganda and never learned English. In time, he learned German. D'costa said he told the priest about his desire to attend West Point. The priest was a friend of then-U.N. Secretary General Kurt Waldheim, who arranged for 9-year-old D'costa and several siblings to go to the United States. He went to live with an older brother in Englewood, N.J. After graduating high school in 1983, D'costa applied to West Point, but he was turned down. "They said I'm not American and don't speak English well enough -- the very thing that teacher was telling me would happen," he said. So he joined the Army ROTC cadet corps at Providence College in Rhode Island. Following his freshman year, the department head offered him a full scholarship, but he'd have to abandon his West Point dream and remain at Providence. "It would've been the easy way out," he said, "but I needed to know how far I was willing to commit. I had given up on that, but [the ROTC department head] said, 'If West Point is in your heart, you need to apply again.'" D'costa submitted a second application, but West Point was already at its 1,500-cadet limit, so he had to go to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Monmouth, N.J., for a year and then apply again. If turned down, he would have been too old for another shot, but he finally was accepted and became a 21-year-old "plebe." D’costa served in the Gulf War as a field artillery officer. He left the Army in 1994, but joined the Army Reserve two years later. Since then, he's deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan, and he has supported military relief missions following Hurricane Katrina and the Pakistan earthquake. At a ceremony in Lafayette on March 12, he’ll turn over the battalion command that he’s held since 2008. He's set to leave Fort Benning on Feb. 11. "I credit every success I've had to my faith in Jesus Christ, because I shouldn't be alive today,â€Â he said. “My life should've ended in Uganda. All these people I encountered along the way were put into my life to help me reach my goals. … I never looked at my skin color as a reason I did not get to West Point at first. They were looking for certain qualities and tools I needed to learn." D'costa will return to work in the private sector, but he's expected to graduate from the U.S. Army War College by July. From there, he'll learn if the Army has any further plans for him. The lieutenant colonel praised the U.S. military for preserving freedom around the globe and said he stays in the Army Reserve to serve his country. "The United States could've said 'no' to me," he said. "Putting my life on the line for a country that took me in is a small price to pay. … Freedom is so priceless, and all I have to do is serve in the reserves to continue saying 'thank you.' Until the Army tells me to get out, I'll stay. "This is the greatest country in the world,â€Â he continued. “When I say that, I'm not just saying it because I heard it from somebody else. … The majority of Americans don't know what it's like when you have no freedom." D'costa said he hopes ultimately to work for NASA. In the late 1990s, he spent two years with the agency in a liaison role for a civilian company. "West Point seemed like an impossible goal, … but I kept pursuing that goal till I made it happen," he said. "You can achieve anything you want -- you just have to put a little effort into it." Feb. 3, 2011: By Vince Little- The Bayonet

photo: Army Sgt. Jason Busch, left, and his brother, Army Cpl. Josh Busch, were decorated for combat in Afghanistan. The soldiers, who are from Seymour, Wis., both serve with the 101st Airborne Division. Courtesy photoOne received a Silver Star Medal in December for actions during a five-day firefight in Kunar province, and the other received a Purple Heart in January after a firefight at Forward Operating Base Andar.Army Cpl. Joshua Busch of Company D, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, was on a mission in November when insurgents attacked his platoon. “We got hit pretty hard,” said Josh, the younger brother. “By the end of the first night, I was the highest-ranking soldier in the platoon as a corporal, so I took charge as the platoon sergeant.” By the end of the fight, his platoon of 22 was down to nine uninjured soldiers. He was decorated Dec. 7 for his heroic actions during that battle. Army Sgt. Jason Busch, Company A, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, recalled the battle that took place about a month later in which he earned his Purple Heart. “The enemy was hiding in a basement. … Two Afghan national policemen were going to go in, and I was to follow,” he said. “They kicked down the door, and as soon as they started to enter, they both got shot and fell down. I looked in and saw the enemy about 10 feet away. We both started firing at each other at the same time. I got hit as I was getting down into a prone position.” Jason kept firing even after he was shot. “Right away, I started coughing up blood and could barely breathe,” he said. “I shouted for a medic, but they couldn’t help me, since the insurgent was in the room in front of me. When I realized they couldn’t get to me, I somehow stood up, stumbled over to the medic and collapsed. Doc slowing my breathing saved my life. I was medically evacuated about 10 to 15 minutes later.” The soldiers, who are from Seymour, Wis., are proud of each other and what they had to go through. “When my brother got decorated, I felt a lot of pride for him, but I also felt a lot of sadness for what he had to go through to get that medal,” Jason said. “I wish that I could have been there instead.” Though both had planned to get out of the Army, they decided to stay with their platoon for this deployment. Josh extended his enlistment, and Jason re-enlisted for two more years. “I actually re-enlisted for four more years less than a week before I got shot,” Jason said. “I'm going to stay in and possibly pursue a career as a flight warrant officer.” Josh said he and his brother always have been close. “My brother joined when I was in high school,” he said. “I think he joined because he knew I was going to and didn’t want me to go through it alone.” When Josh got to basic training, the drill sergeants asked if anyone had siblings in the Army. Josh said yes and was given the chance to be stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky., with his brother, though they are in different brigades. Josh will finish his deployment soon, while Jason is recovering in the United States. “It’s got to be tough on our parents having two kids deployed at the same time,” Josh said. “Our mom is a worrier, and she tries to find out anything she can about what we are doing out here. We try not to tell them too much about what goes on out here to keep them from worrying more.” Feb. 2, 2011: By Army Sgt. Scott Davis- Regional Command East  Redistributed by www.SupportOurTroops.org