Meet Your Military: Sisters in Different Services Train Together
Sisters and service members, Navy Seaman Michelle Panchana, left, and Air Force Airman 1st Class Gisella Panchana are photographed as students together at the Medical Education and Training Campus at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, Feb. 9, 2018. They attended school at the base from August 2017 to January 2018. Gisella graduated from the METC Radiology Program Jan. 30, while Michelle is scheduled to complete the METC Pharmacy Program in April.
Photo by David DeKunder
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Feb. 12, 2018 —
When Air Force Airman 1st Class Gisella Panchana graduates from the Medical Education and Training Campus here, Jan. 30.
The graduation will start the next phase of Panchana’s service in the Air Force, continuing her training as a radiology technician at Travis Air Force Base, California.
Even though Panchana, 26, is excited about continuing her military career, her graduation means she will no longer be able to be around her younger sister, Navy Seaman Michelle Panchana, 21, a Navy hospitalman who is also a student at METC.
While the two sisters will be separated from each other, Gisella said she’ll keep in touch with Michelle.
“It’s another chapter in my life,” Gisella said. “Even though I won’t see her as much, I can still talk to her on the phone. It will definitely be a different experience without her.”
Learning Together
The two sisters appreciated the time they were students together at METC for six months, from August 2017 to January 2018. Michelle was the first sister to arrive at METC in June 2017, beginning her classes in the pharmacy program. Two months later, Gisella arrived at the campus to start her training in the METC radiology program.
Michelle found out that her older sister would be joining her at METC during a phone call with Gisella, who was finishing up basic training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.
