Beene Brothers fly together again

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Julie Briden-Garcia
  • 301st Fighter Wing
Fort Worth, Texas --  Back together, the Beene brothers took to the skies in what has been titled a cage match. Both ranked Major, the younger brother, Gary, joined his older brother, Lane, in the skies over North Texas. 

One flies the F-15 and the other, the F-16 Fighting Falcon. 'Ham'n' (the younger Beene) has came to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas from the 60th Fighter Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., to fly an air-to-air training mission, coincidentally, against his brother, 'Snap', who is assigned to the 457th Fighter Squadron here. 

This dissimilar air combat training pits two different types of fighter jets against each other to test the pilots' skills over each other's jet and experience. This training also gives them an opportunity to train in air-to-air combat tactics verses air-to-ground. 

Most F-15 training is performed via air-to-ground missions, explained Ham'n. So when his boss saw the opportunity for him to fly against his brother, the deal was sealed ... again. 

This is the second time the brothers have been able to match their schedules and locations to fly a mission together. The first time was in 2002, at Eglin AFB where the F-15s had home-field advantage and the score ended in a controversy. 

"I won three out of four," Snap says on the passes his F-16 took against his brother's F-15. 

"I think it was two and two," corrects his brother. 

Both are originally from the area. They grew up in Fort Worth and went to Southwest High School. That's about where the similarities end. 

Lane, now 38 and a full-time Air Force Reservist, played football on his high school varsity team then moved to the Air Force Academy's team via a football scholarship while his 35-year-old brother, who holds active-duty status in the Air Force, followed with a scholarship in softball to the Academy. 

Each brother had different aspirations in life, but fate or luck, gave them both a chance to fly fighter jets in their careers. 

Whether it's flying an Eagle as a Fighting Crow or the Fighting Falcons as a Spad, the brothers put the past behind them and fly the mission as professional Air Force pilots. 

But don't expect to get the same answer when asking who came out on top this time. The answer definitely differs ... again!