Brother, sister share first salute

by Airman 1st Class Madelyn McCullough
446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

1/4/2013 - MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. -- When a brand new officer graduates from Officer Training School, he usually receives his first salute during the ceremony. But that is not the case for one graduate with ties to McChord.

Rather than following in this ceremonial tradition, 2nd Lt. Nathan Mann, a maintenance officer with the 129th Maintenance Group at Moffett Field, Calif., managed to escape the base without saluting a single Airman. He decided to save his very first salute for his younger sister, Senior Airman Julie Mann, a health services manager with the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron here.

Mann said she is very proud of her brother for achieving one of his long term goals and was excited to render his first salute.

"He has a huge future ahead of him," she said.

The new lieutenant is a former master sergeant with the 446th Maintenance Squadron and 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, who won two awards as a technical sergeant in 2008. He won the Maintenance Group Quality Assurance Technician of the Year award and the MooseFest Senior Technician Category award. He is now living in California with his wife and twin daughters.

The new officer graduated OTS at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., on Dec. 7. On Dec. 28, Mann enjoyed the opportunity to salute her older brother.

"When he graduated, he went to extremes to save his first salute for her and she was honored by that," said Jillana Mann, Julie and Nathan's mother.

"Ever since she came in I thought it would be really neat to have Julie do it," said Mann. "We both started enlisted and I helped her come in. It's a really neat way to cross over to the officer side by having my sister do the first salute."

When the brother and sister faced each other and prepared to salute Dec. 28, both of their faces lit up with smiles.  Afterward they exchanged coins.

"For me, he's always been a big brother and someone to look up to," Mann said. "He helped me get in the military."

During basic military training, Mann borrowed a container from her brother that she stored name strips and other items in.

"The container was a reminder to me to be strong, as my brother was in the same building, same base, and same squadron years before," Mann said. "If he could do it, I could do it."

Sharing his first salute gave her the same deep feeling as sharing the container in basic training, she said. It is a close bond they share not only as family, but through serving.