AFGSC's Year of the Family: A little laughter goes a long way

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jazmin Smith
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

Maintainers are notorious for their sense of humor and ingenuity.

You can only imagine the atmosphere when two decide to share a life together.

For U.S. Air Force Capt. Justin Cassidy, the 13th Aircraft Maintenance Unit officer in charge, and his wife of nearly four years, Capt. Renee Cassidy, the 509th Maintenance Operations officer in charge, these qualities would lay the foundation for the start of their relationship in 2012.

As rival colleagues, the pair always looked for ways to one-up each other, but barely spoke until they deployed with the 28th Maintenance Group at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, in 2009.

During their time in Al-Udeid, and after several rounds of heated ping-pong, they learned the strength that comes from something as simple as friendship and a good laugh.

“Renee saved my life and made me the outgoing person I am today,” said Justin. “I was at a very dark time in my life, and she pulled me from the depth of despair. She taught me resiliency through kindness. She showed me that laughter really does cure a heavy heart.

“To this day, she never ceases to amaze me,” added Justin.

When they returned from their six-month deployment, orders dropped. Justin was sent east to Florida, and Renee was sent west to Japan.

Both managed to stay in contact after going their separate ways.

Looking back now, the Air Force had a remarkable way of bringing them together … mostly by keeping them apart.

“Communication was the very thing that kept us together,” said Renee. “We burned through millions of cell phone minutes, video chats, and airline miles to see one another.”

Discussing their daily lives and their respective future plans brought them closer together, said Renee.

The bulk of their courtship happened through a phone screen. It was also how Renee met and got to know Justin’s son, Carson.

During the spring of 2013, Justin made the 22-hour flight from Florida to Japan.

Two things were clear: Renee knew he was coming with the intentions of asking her to marry him, and Justin was going to somehow make sure the proposal was a surprise. He succeeded with the help of her coworkers.

“During the end of the morning production briefing, my group commander mentioned that he saw an error on a previous status slide of mine and had the controller flip back to it,” said Renee. “He told me to read the slide aloud for everyone, which was alarming and I still didn’t realize what I was reading until a few sentences into it.”

Justin turned the last slide into a riddle, which led Renee on a scavenger hunt across Kadena and Okinawa. Positioned all around were little messages and thoughtful gifts eventually leading her to the beach where he proposed.

In less than 24 hours, on May 2, the two were officially married.

“We climbed Mount Fuji in 2013,” said Justin. “She and I carried her dress and my suit to the top and took some amazing wedding photos as the sun was rising. Climbing Fuji is not easy, and with a few extra pounds of wedding gear it was not any less challenging, but it was worth it.”

During their first year of marriage, the newlyweds spent less than a month together as they were still stationed apart and Renee would deploy in September.

Having served a combined 18 years in the service, the Cassidys knew they would have extra challenges and double the stress being dual-military members.

Although they were geographically separated prior to the deployment, the couple had planned visits to look forward to in Okinawa. For the duration of her six-month deployment, both Renee and Justin relied on phone calls alone to make the time apart bearable – something they knew all about.

“This deployment was my most difficult so far, emotionally and mentally,” said Renee. “His talking me to sleep while sitting in blues on the work stairwell will be ingrained in my memories. To be so close, but not close enough to provide comfort was one of the most helpless feelings.

“Being able to talk to him kept me grounded and helped the time fly by,” she added. “He claims I saved his life, but I feel he saved mine.”

Despite living halfway across the world, they found the time to make those special moments count.

“During my deployment, he sent me a massive Christmas card made out of a roll of paper,” recalled Renee. “He had spent the previous few months reaching out to friends and family to coordinate a big photo montage where each person was with a different letter from ‘Merry Christmas’ in their photo.”

While visiting Disney World with his dad, step-mother, nephew and son, Justin carried a photo of Renee’s face on a popsicle stick for photos. During that same trip, Renee video-called the group while they roamed the theme park and she opened the gift he had made her.

“I don’t cry often, but when I realized what it was and what he did, I was so moved,” added Renee.

Renee returned from her first deployment as a Cassidy during the spring of 2014. After a year and a half as separated newlyweds, Team Cassidy reunited at Whiteman, both sharing the title of supporting spouse and military member.

Joined by their family, and with Carson as Justin’s best man, the Cassidys celebrated their marriage with a wedding ceremony in Kansas City on May 24, 2015.

Nowadays, the couple appreciates the art of balancing their time-demanding jobs with home life and raising their son, Carson.

“No amount of Facetime could prepare me for actually living together for the first time and also being a stepmother, but when we finally reunited for good, we were of the same mind and personality,” said Renee.

The Cassidys are now looking to finalize the purchase of their very first house as a family. They endeavor to make their careers ones of substance where they can be selfless and make the most impact on Airmen.

Every couple has a story. For the Cassidys it all began with a mutual sense of humor.