Veteran for Life:
Fernando Cogley

U.S. Air Force
2008-Present
Aircraft Loadmaster Journeyman

Coming from a military family it was a matter of time before I joined the military. Since I was a little kid my head was in the sky watching how fighter jets and helicopters train when I went with my dad to his base.

It was a matter of time, coming from a military family, before I joined the military. Since I was a little kid, my head was in the sky watching how fighter jets and helicopters train when I went with my dad to his base. That is why although my family had a long history in the Army I joined as a C-130 Aircraft Loadmaster with the Puerto Rico Air National Guard. I have deployed several times. My deployments have taken me from Afghanistan to South America.

It is exciting to serve as a loadmaster because you never know what the day will bring you. You can be doing airdrops of food and ammunition under gunfire to help troops at forward operating bases during a mission and be helping other service members go back to their families when they rotate out of a combat zone.

Would not trade serving my country for anything else in the world.