Capt. Chandra “Sparkles” Fleming, a 75th Fighter Squadron pilot, and her brother, Senior Airman Michael Bartel, share a moment in front of Fleming’s A-10 Thunderbolt II on the flight line today.
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Yesterday, Bartel, a 71st Operations Support Squadron air traffic controller stationed at Vance, directed his sister into local airspace and gave her approach clearance.
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Fleming said hearing her brother over the radio was one of the “neatest” things she’d ever heard because “he sounded professional and it was good to hear him doing something he has trained so hard to do.”
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The pair are second-generation Airmen.
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Fleming, who is stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, accompanied Col. Chad Franks, the 23rd Wing commander, and his official party. Franks was the keynote speaker for Vance’s Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training class 15-08 graduation this morning.
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The team from Moody brought two A-10s, an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter and a C-130 Hercules to showcase some Air Force major weapons systems to base personnel and their families.
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(U.S. Air Force photo / 2nd Lt. Isabel Crump)
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USAF A Family Affair
