Having a brother can be an adventure. Big brothers are always showing off, and little brothers are always tagging along. And brothers fight — all the time.
For brothers Noel and Justin Larson, growing up was no different.
“We fought constantly as children — our poor mother. At the same time, we always had each other’s back,” Noel said. “We could have a knock-down fight one minute, and the next minute be building a fort together.”
It was their competitive nature that brought out the drive to be successful and made the afternoon of Feb. 11 special for the Larson brothers. With more than 54 years of combined military service, 10,000 flying hours and multiple overseas deployments, Noel and Justin Larson were promoted to chief warrant officer 5 and chief warrant officer 4, respectively, during a short and casual ceremony at the Army Aviation Support Facility here.
“I have known Justin and Noel for years,” said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Teresa Burgess, the Washington National Guard’s command chief warrant officer. “I have been blessed to have flown with them stateside and in Iraq. While Noel flew special operations flights, Justin was there when I took off and when I landed, ensuring my aircraft was properly maintained and ready to go for the next crew. That always meant a lot to me.”
Passion for Aviation
Noel Larson is a year and four months younger than his brother. He joined the Washington National Guard in 1988 and graduated from flight school in 1995.
“Justin had a bigger passion [for aviation growing up], and it was contagious; the bug got me,” said Noel, aviation standardization officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 66th Theater Aviation Command.
Justin took a different path to the helicopter cockpit. He joined the in 1988 before joining the Washington National Guard in 2000.
“We’ve always loved aviation,” said Justin, aviation material officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment. “We just didn’t know how we wanted to go about it in the beginning.”
Hectic Mission
On any given day, the brothers can be seen diligently providing support for the state’s hectic aviation mission. Noel could be on one side of the building training the future UH-60 Black Hawk pilots coming in to the organization, while Justin could be in the maintenance bay ripping apart and putting back together the same helicopters that the brothers have flown for years.
“I work on training pilots and I break stuff. My brother fixes the stuff and takes it on check rides to verify it works properly,” Noel said.
For the last 17 years, the Larson brothers have been counted on to provide critical support to the state of Washington during many emergency response missions. Both brothers flew missions in Louisiana after the destruction of hurricane Katrina and Rita. They provided support in the aftermath of the State Route 530 Landslide and have flown numerous missions dealing with floods and fires throughout the state.
It’s the work the brothers have done while deployed that has given them national recognition.
On the night of March 25, 2008, while deployed to an undisclosed location, Noel was the pilot and mission coordinator on board a UH-60 Black Hawk. The helicopter was configured to perform reconnaissance in direct support of a raid being conducted by coalition forces.
Helping Wounded Soldiers
During planning, it became evident that poor weather was going to limit the number of air assets able to support the mission, but the command determined the mission would proceed. As Noel and his crew arrived over the objective, the restricted visibility from a dust storm made it difficult to gain the normal levels of situational awareness. Despite the added difficulty, Noel directed a detailed and methodical reconnaissance of the objective area and wrote a succinct report that allowed the ground force, now moving into the area, to better understand the terrain and enemy situation.
As the ground forces dismounted, the enemy opened fire and the assault force took immediate casualties.
“As soon as they started taking fire, we were going over our options on how we could help them,” Noel said. “My aircraft was already in the air and the medical aircraft couldn’t get into the air, so my team and I landed to help the wounded.”
For his heroic actions and operating his aircraft while under heavy enemy fire, Noel earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, a decoration awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement in a flight undertaken voluntarily and beyond the call of duty.
While Noel has been recognized for his accomplishments in the air, Justin continues to break records and be recognized for his work fixing the helicopters that they fly.
“Justin’s proactive nature in getting broken aircraft fixed during deployment has set a national record for getting aircraft back in the air,” said Army Brig. Gen. Wallace Turner, assistant adjutant general. “He’s one of the best test pilots in the nation.”
Hard Workers
With so many accolades and military honors bestowed upon them, the brothers, ever humble, continue to give their support to Washington aviation and each other day in and day out. “It was pretty awesome [being promoted together], I think we can both say that it is nice to see your siblings succeed — and in this case it was simultaneous reward,” Noel said.
“We are blessed to have two of the hardest working, talented aviators in Washington,” Burgess said. “The organization is in good hands with the two of them leading the way in training and maintenance.”