20-Year-Old Decides To Deploy With Her Military Father

This time around, Krista Macias won’t have to say goodbye to her dad when he deploys. Instead, she will join him and 125 service members in the New Mexico National Guard as they head out to Kuwait for a nine-month deployment.

The deployment will mark the first for Krista, 20, who is going as a medic. It will also be the last for her father, First Sergeant Lacey Macias.

While Sergeant Macias said he’s honored to do the mission with his daughter by his side, Specialist Macias revealed she couldn’t pass up the chance. (Of course it means they also won’t have to deal with the brutal time apart that most military families deal with!)

“It was one of his friends that he actually deployed with, he actually asked me to go. They said that they needed medics to come and they just figured it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to go with my father,” she told New Mexico’s KOAT. “It’s a pretty awesome thing. It takes the edge off being deployed, so it’s not nearly as nerve-wracking for me. And so it’s just awesome to share this experience with my father.”

The father and daughter will head out with the rest of the service members in three weeks.