Serving through the season: Staff Sgt. Kyna Davis

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kenya Shiloh
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) --  Tracking Santa's progress from the North Pole was not the only job a Kadena Airman had this holiday season. As a weather meteorologist from the 33rd Rescue Squadron, she was tasked to forecast weather patterns and brief squadron members for upcoming missions.

Staff Sgt. Kyna Davis has been in the service more than five years. She has also been away from home for the majority of that time as well. So being away from family has become the "norm," However, if given the opportunity, she wouldn't hesitate to spend the holidays with loved ones and continue old traditions.

"Working the holidays makes me nostalgic for the things my family did traditionally back home," Sergeant Davis said. "We would decorate the tree each year with decorations we made when we were little children and we would reminisce about sledding and playing in the snow. My mother would make each of us a nice mug of homemade hot chocolate with two mini-marshmallows in it to keep us warm on long winter nights."

Since Sergeant Davis, a 1999 graduate of Northwest High School, won't be spending the holidays with her immediate family in Cincinnati, she's made a new one with her friends at Kadena and from previous bases.

"My friend and I have been stationed together for the last five years and have become like sisters," she said. "We have spent the holidays together every year since we were first stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana in 2001. She and I have come to depend on each other for the emotional support we would find in our families during the holidays."

Sergeant Davis knows the importance of her job and her role in the fight against terrorism. She also said that no matter how far apart they are from each other, she still feels as close to her family now as she had before.

"It's hard not being there with them through the holidays but I know that they miss me as much as I miss them," she said. "They are always in my heart and in my prayers no matter the distance between us."