News>AWACS officer has family reunion at 23,000 feet
Photos
(Left to right) Brothers Airman 1st Class Anthony and 1st Lt. Michael Ellsworth pose during time spent together during Thanksgiving at their uncle's house in 2011. That was the two's last time together prior to their mid-air reunion Dec. 23, 2012. (Courtesy photo)
Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Ellsworth poses in front of an E-3 Sentry Jan. 7 in Southwest Asia. Ellsworth’s Sentry was receiving a mid-air refuel when he discovered that his brother was on the other aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Timothy Boyer)
The KC-135 Stratotanker, with Airman 1st Class Anthony Ellsworth as the boom operator, lines up to refuel an E-3 Sentry with help from his brother, 1st Lt. Michael Ellsworth, during a refueling mission on Dec. 22, 2012. (Courtesy photo)
by Staff Sgt. Timothy Boyer
380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
1/14/2013 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- There are many predictable things about deployments, but for one Airman, the unpredictable happened. He didn't expect a family reunion, but got one - at 23,000 feet in the air two days before Christmas.
The day started like any other for 1st Lt. Michael Ellsworth, an air weapons officer deployed to Southwest Asia from Kadena Air Base, Japan. His assigned E-3 Sentry was scheduled for refueling and he was responsible for lining up the aircraft with an approaching KC-135 Stratotanker.
"My boss asked if I wanted to lead a weapons-director directed rendezvous," explained Ellsworth, who is currently assigned to the 963rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron. "It was hectic because it's like a big geometry puzzle. You've got two aircraft both flying and you have to turn one of them so that it rolls in behind the other at a specific distance and angle."
After successfully connecting to a KC-135 Stratotanker, the co-pilot called back to the rear and said, "Ellsworth, come up here, someone knows you." Ellsworth then swapped seats and looked up through the little triangle window.
"I saw my brother looking down at us waving with this huge, goofy smile on his face," Ellsworth said with a laugh. "We got to talk for a good 10 minutes through the boom interphone, which is like a walkie-talkie between the aircraft."
Airman 1st Class Anthony Ellsworth, a boom operator aboard the KC-135, recognized his brother's voice over the radio.
"I was really happy knowing my brother was there. It was a cool feeling, hearing my brother's voice at 23,000 feet," said Anthony Ellsworth.
The brothers both joined the Air Force two years ago. Despite differences in career fields and rank, their paths have crossed several times.
"We were both at survival training at the same time, so we would spend every day together," Michael Ellsworth said.
"We were also both in Oklahoma for different training at the same time, so we got to spend Thanksgiving together at our uncle's house that year," Anthony Ellsworth added.
The brothers, both from Ypsilanti, Mich., were saddened when they learned that Michael Ellsworth got orders to Kadena, while his brother, Anthony Ellsworth, got orders to Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England.
"We thought we wouldn't be able to see each other again for a long time," Michael Ellsworth said. For more than a year they were right.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity to speak to my brother," Anthony Ellsworth said. "What an awesome thing to happen while I was doing my job in the air!"
The brothers had the opportunity to connect and exchange holiday wishes during the refuel.
"After disconnecting, we called over the radio to say thank you for the gas," he said. "They responded, 'No problem. Tell Michael his brother loves him.'"
While it doesn't replace spending time with his brother at home or during the holidays, the chance encounter of two brothers 23,000 feet in the air did bring some joy to Michael Ellsworth.
"When I found out it was my brother in the other aircraft, I told him, 'Mom is going to be crazy surprised,'" he said with a smile. "The fact that I have seen him this many times in such a short career is insane, but cool!"
