When Guzman took Fairchild to the recruiter’s office in February 2019, the two had no idea what adventure lay in store for them. After hearing all the benefits available to her son in the Air Force Reserve, Guzman started to wonder if she could join the service herself.
Guzman, 37, had a successful career and family in West Milton but always wanted to have the honor of serving her country. After much deliberation, the two recruits decided they would jump in and do it together.
Side by side, they went to the Military Entrance Processing Center in Columbus, took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery exam, outprocessed and went to the airport.
In late August 2019, the mother and son departed for basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. To their surprise, the two were placed in brother-sister flights, which allowed them to stay in contact throughout BMT.
The two flights exercised together, and the mother-son tandem team could check in with each other during morning runs.
“It was a just a really good experience, and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” Guzman said.
She said it gave her reassurance knowing they were going through the experience together, but sometimes added to the stress if her son was not in class when she expected him to be.
“The best part was being able to see each other progress through training and see each other become better and better at tasks,” said Fairchild, 19. “It motivated me to work harder.”
Guzman agreed and explained that having her son there with her meant failure was not an option because she wanted to show him that if she could do it, so could he.
Both mother and son feel basic training brought them closer together. They graduated Oct. 25 that year.
“Having the shared experience made it unforgettable,” Guzman said.
“Being able to hug my mom at the end, at graduation, without getting in trouble, was the best part,” Fairchild added.
Both Airmen kept their relationship a secret from the military training instructors until the very end, though many of their fellow trainees were in on it.
“When the instructors found out, they were shocked,” Guzman said. “I think they were mostly surprised that they had not caught on to it sooner
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