Family tradition: 4 generations share same enlistment date
By Yoohyun Jung
The (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star
When Riley Joseph Chapman, 22, walked into the Air Force recruiting center with his family, the recruiter, Staff Sgt. Marvin Contreras, had no idea what he was getting into.
Only a few weeks into the job at the time, the staff sergeant said Chapman was just one of many recruits he encountered at the center on North La Cholla Boulevard.
During the first meeting, however, it became apparent to Contreras that this recruit had a unique story.
“At first, I thought he was kidding,” Contreras said.
Chapman is the fourth generation in his family to enlist on Sept. 17.
Wednesday, he will be shipping off to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, exactly 97 years after his great-grandfather, Riley Virgil Chapman, whom he was named after, joined the Army.
His grandfather, Glenn, enlisted in the Air Force on the same day in 1956. Thirty years later, his father, Joseph, joined the Air Force. Now, 18 years after his father, it’s the younger Riley’s turn.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid,” said the youngest Chapman.
Growing up as an Air Force brat, he said he remembers being inspired by his grandfather’s “million-and-a-half stories” and his father coming home in uniform .
It has been an underlying thought all his life that he would someday follow the steps of his father and his grandfather and his great-grandfather , he said.
But he wanted some “on-the-job” experience after graduating from Flowing Wells High School, so he worked at area auto dealerships for a few years. Then earlier this year, he decided it was finally time.
“It’s neat that it worked out this way,” said Glenn, Chapman’s grandfather and the second in the family to enlist on Sept. 17.
The first time was a coincidence, Glenn said. He didn’t even know until one day in 1978, decades after his father died, his niece brought a suitcase to him containing his father’s belongings, including his World War I combat helmet and discharge papers.
That’s when Glenn discovered that his father, the elder Riley, had also enlisted on Sept. 17, he said. So when his son, Joseph, was joining the Air Force, the family made sure that he could enlist on the same day. He’s committed to having the younger Riley do the same.
At the time of Joseph’s enlistment, his recruiter, John Olkonen, was the one to make it happen for him. He also arranged for Joseph to be featured in a story in the Tucson Citizen.
Similarly, Contreras, the fourth-generation Chapman’s recruiter, informed his supervisor about Chapman’s story. He and the family sent letters to the commander that explained the significance the enlistment date holds to his family and the history of the Air Force, U.S. military and the country.
Historic significance, TOO
Sept. 17 is also the anniversary of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, which is “the very document that every military member is sworn to defend,” Joseph wrote in a memorandum requesting an exception. On the same day in 1862, the first major battle of the American Civil War on Union land, the Battle of the Antietam Creek, took place, he added.
Those efforts from the family to highlight the historic significance is what got Chapman’s request approved, Contreras said.
“All this is pretty exciting,” he said. “It’s a lot bigger than me recruiting him. It’s about history now.”
As much as continuing the family tradition was important to the Chapman family, it also was a special experience for the recruiter, Contreras. The youngest Chapman was the first recruit Contreras would be sending to basic training as a recruiter.
“I think it’s definitely one of the highlights of my career,” he said.
Eventful careers
The three generations of men in the Chapman family had eventful careers that took them around the world. The new recruit’s great-grandfather fought in World War I in France and Germany. Grandfather Glenn served during the Vietnam War and in a handful of states, repairing sensors for U-2s and A-10s. And father Joseph did two tours in Korea and served for one year in Germany.
The younger Riley said he’s looking forward to the traveling, too. “I’m pretty open-minded,” he said. “I’ll go where the Air Force needs me.”
After completing his 8½-week basic training, the new recruit said he would be going into the electronics field.
The most immediate thing on his agenda is a swearing-in ceremony at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Phoenix on Wednesday. At that point, the youngest Chapman will be considered to be on active duty. That same day, he will fly to San Antonio for basic training.
There are certainly tough parts about being a military family, including time spent away from home, missing family and the hard work, Glenn and Joseph said. Recruit Riley chimed in with childhood memories of missing dad while he was on a temporary duty assignment. The youngest Chapman said he understands that those things just come with the job, and he’s OK with it.
Traditions like the one his family is trying to keep bond families together, Joseph said. And that’s not just his family, but the Air Force community as well. “It’s really about the history and the Air Force family as a whole,” Joseph said.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/family-tradition-4-generations-share-same-enlistment-date-1.303258
