Born in the military: A Robins family legacy of service Published Aug. 8, 2013 By Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Military deployments are difficult for both the service member and the family members they leave behind. Being in a dual-military parent family doesn't make it easier, but after nearly 50 years of combined service, the current Wakefields are continuing their family's tradition. "My great uncles served in the Army during WWII; my Dad was an Army mortar man; I'm an aircraft maintainer; and now my son is an infantryman in the Marines," said Chief Master Sgt. Gary Wakefield, 7th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit chief deployed from Robins Air Force Base, Ga. "As soon as my youngest graduates high school, he'll also join the Marines." For the Wakefields, the military has become a way of life that's been passed down through the generations and as if by fate, the chief found himself a wife whose family also has a strong legacy of service. "My Dad spent 23 years in the Air Force as basically a security police officer," said Master Sgt. Dana Wakefield, assigned to the 94th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Dobbins Air Reserve Base and working for the Air Force Reserve Management Group's Training Management Branch at Robins. "So I grew up in the life of the military child with father gone a lot and mom struggling to keep it all together." That sentiment is nothing new for (dual-) military families with at least one member gone every 20 months or less for various deployments, temporary duty assignments and unaccompanied one year "short" tours to places like Turkey and South Korea. "I'm not going to lie, it has been difficult at times leaving my family as often and as long as I have throughout my career," the 25-year chief said. Editor's note: To read the complete story, visit http://www.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123357399.