Some soldiers join the Army National Guard as a way to better their lives. Others join to learn a trade. Still others join to continue a family tradition of military service.
For Lawrence and Joseph Copley, a father and son from Elkview, West Virginia, it's all three.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Lawrence Copley and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joseph Copley are pilots in the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment. In December, the duo deployed here with the California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade.
In 1980, Lawrence, a Clarksburg, West Virginia, native, enlisted into the West Virginia Army National Guard as a heavy equipment operator and became the second generation of his family to join the military. His father served as a Marine in the Korean War.
Lawrence soon turned his gaze to the sky.
A New Career Path
"I always had an interest in flying," Lawrence said. "One day ... my section sergeant told me the West Virginia Guard needed pilots." Pilots from the Vietnam generation were beginning to retire in large numbers, leaving a gap in the aviation community that needed to be filled.
By 1984, Lawrence had graduated from flight school as a helicopter pilot. He learned to fly with the TH-55 Osage helicopter, and was among one of the first classes of Army helicopter pilots to have night-vision flights incorporated into their training.
When Lawrence wasn't flying for the National Guard, he worked as a commercial pilot. As a civilian pilot, he frequently had opportunities to fly his wife, daughter and son with him. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that his son, Joseph, would develop an interest in flight himself.
"Growing up, I was always in the airport as a kid," said Joseph, who was born in Charleston, West Virginia.
By the time Joseph was 7, Lawrence was already letting him practice as his co-pilot.
"He's been flying since he was too short to reach the pedals," Lawrence said.
As a high school senior, Joseph began to explore ideas for his own military career. Just three days after graduating from high school in 2007, Joseph enlisted as an integrated avionics technician in the West Virginia Air National Guard's 130th Airlift Wing, based out of Charleston. While serving in the Air National Guard, Joseph deployed in 2009 and again in 2010 to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. But, like his father, Joseph couldn't stay away from the cockpit for long.
"What I really wanted to do was fly helicopters, particularly medevacs," he said.
Second-Generation Helicopter Pilot
Joseph graduated from Mountain State University in Beckley, West Virginia, with a degree in aviation management, and enlisted in the Army National Guard in 2013. After returning from Army basic training that August, Joseph got married before leaving home once again for the Warrant Officers Candidate School and flight school. In October 2014, Joseph's daughter was born during his flight training.
In February 2015, Joseph graduated from flight school and took his long-awaited place as a pilot in Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 104th Aviation Regiment. He wouldn't stay there for long, though. The unit already was scheduled to deploy with the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade later that year.
While Joseph was still new to the Army National Guard, this would be his third federal deployment overseas. And though Lawrence had served on numerous missions within West Virginia and around the country, this would be his first federal deployment.
Despite being separated from their families back home, the Copleys, senior and junior, will be serving side by side for the duration of the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade’s deployment.
"My dad's always been supportive, and my wife is good with [me serving in the Army]," Joseph said. "Everyone else grew into it."