Siblings Airborne in Afghanistan

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – “My brother was my best friend growing up, he was all I had. I didn’t have the picture perfect childhood” says U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Kimball, 20, a mechanic assigned to Company B, 82nd Division Special Troops Battalion out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

“After my grandmother passed away when I was 11, I was fostered into my brother’s family,” said Kimball, whose brother is U.S. Army Pvt. Logan Yost, 21, an infantryman assigned to the same unit,” says Kimball.  “My brother always took me under his wing.”

Kimball had plans to go to college after high school but could not afford it, after hearing about the Army G.I. Bill the Collegeville, Pa., native, decided to go see a recruiter. 

“The recruiter mentioned the opportunity to go Airborne, being of competitive nature it intrigued me. I talked it over with my brother; he did not want me to go alone so we both joined the Army together,” she said.
 
After graduating Army basic training and Airborne School, the siblings ended up being placed in the same airborne unit.

“My brother and I were not at Fort Bragg long before the both of us deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom,” Kimball explained.

Since being in Afghanistan, both Kimball and Yost have been on several missions together and both made sure the other is taken care of.

“Sometimes we would be outside the wire for several days in a row, at night we would all take turns staying awake to pull security. When it was Jessica’s turn I would go sit with her to keep her company so she wouldn’t be alone,” Yost said.

His sister also returned the favor when it was his turn for security detail. 

“I feel for anyone who has siblings in the military, we are lucky to have gotten stationed together because most of the time siblings get split up and sent half way around the world from each other,” Yost said.

Although the siblings were already close when they joined the military, their time in Afghanistan has made their bond stronger.

“The deployment has brought us closer together,” says Kimball. “It is like a hardcore friendship, and it is comforting to know someone has your back in a foreign country away from anything we’ve ever known.”