By  Robert M. Harrower, TSgt, USAF

U.S. Air Force Recruiting

On May 26, Lt. Comdr.  Gary Lock, (RET), with his right hand held firmly at a 90 degree angle, administered the Oath of Enlistment as he has done several times in the past. Like every Oath of Enlistment he began with, “repeat after me. I state your full name…”. Unlike any other Oaths of Enlistment he has done previously the voice on the other end was familiar and dear to his heart, as she repeated “I, Colby Marie Lock, do solemnly swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

In the back of the room stood a proud and abundantly supportive woman, with her Ipad in hand.

Christina Lock recorded every second of the occasion as she watched the love of her life swear her oldest daughter into the Air Force just prior to shipping off to Basic Military Training (BMT) with their youngest daughter, Aubrey Lock, by her side.

Colby was an aspiring beautician until she did an about-face once she realized that hair was not for her and decided to revert back to a lifestyle that she was more familiar with — a lifestyle of service.

As her mother and father had done in the past, Colby decided to serve her country. Unlike her parents, and with a little coaxing from them, Colby decided to join the Air Force and blaze a new path for herself as a Security Forces Apprentice where she will soon be responsible for guarding and protecting Air Force assets, the most valuable of which are its people.

Although Colby was the first member of her family to the Air Force, she wouldn’t be the last.

On July 28, 2015, 64 days after Colby left for Air Force BMT, Lt. Comdr. Lock found himself administering his final Oath of Enlistment to his youngest daughter Aubrey while her mother once again, looked on with pride.

Growing up, Aubrey was never too far behind her big sister as she always had a strong connection and respect for her, and this time was no different. Eleven short days after watching her sister march down the bomb run for the “Pass in Review” portion of Colby’s graduation ceremony in Joint Base San Antonio, Aubrey was nipping at her heals preparing to follow in Colby’s footsteps.

Aubrey had just finished up high school where she excelled, graduating with honors. This is nothing new to Aubrey as she tended to excel at just about everything she did. As a multi-sport athlete, Aubrey competed in volleyball, cheerleading, and track and field for Oak Harbor High School. She even participated in the annual RAGBRAI bike race across Iowa in 2014.

She will soon be joining Colby in Technical School as she too will be a Security Forces Apprentice in the Air Force just like her big sister. By entering this career field, both sisters were automatically enrolled in the Community College of the Air Force where they will be working towards an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice.

Lt. Comdr. Lock served in the Navy for over 31 years prior to retiring in March 2013. During this span, Lt. Comdr. Lock has done some remarkable things. Enlisting in September of 1981, he has made an impact everywhere he’s been.

Whether providing strafing proficiency training for Strike and Fighter aircraft at Naval Air Station Fallon or logging more than 500 Air Intercepts aboard the USS Elliot in his second Persian Gulf deployment, Lt. Comdr. Lock was a proven leader with tremendous impact on the enlisted ranks.

Roughly 19 years after enlisting, Lt. Comdr. Lock was commissioned where he assumed even larger roles and responsibilities. To highlight a few of his commissioned tours, Lt. Comdr. Lock served as a Tactical Watch officer at Joint Maritime Facility ST. Mawgan, UK, and as well as the Electronic Warfare/Counter Improvised Explosive Device Officer for Task Force Military Police in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Since returning to NAS Whidbey Island his roles included the Operations Officer, Training Officer, Current Operations Officer, Quality Assurance Officer, and Plans and Exercise Officer.

In August 2012, Lt. Comdr. Lock was selected to fill a critical officer gap at Navy Information Operations Command, Whidbey Island as the Readiness Department Head where he ultimately retired from the Navy with awards that included the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (Six awards), Navy Achievement Medal (Six awards). Despite all of his accomplishments he couldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for a tremendously supportive wife and mother of his children.

Christina Lock also served our country by enlisting in the Navy on Aug. 8, 1988 as a Damage Control Technician on ARCO, ARDM-5 and later at the Naval Training Center in San Diego.

There were two significant highlights during her four year stint in the Navy. One was being present during the filming of the motion picture hit “Hunt for Red October” where she was able to take a photo with Alec Baldwin and the other was happening to stumble across the love of her life Gary. They were both E-5s at the time when they first met and she admits that meeting him was by far the best part of her time in the Navy.

Although she will not call it a career, being a military spouse is certainly no walk in the park and can often be much more challenging than actually serving. It was Christina who was the commander on the home front while Gary was away on several ship deployments and two ground tours to Iraq of nine and eight months respectively. It was Christina who made sure Colby and Aubrey were well taken care of while Gary plugged away at his career.