While deployments often force airmen to miss important family milestones and celebrations, that won't be the case for Maj. Esther Aubert this time around.

Aubert, a reservist with the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, will deploy to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, for four months in a little more than a week.

Aubert will be the base's chief nurse, with her duties revolving around crew management and patient care.

But she won't be alone.

Aubert's 24-year-old daughter, Carina, has been at the base for about a week as part of her first deployment. The two will get to celebrate Carina's 25th birthday together next month.

"It's going to be great," said Esther, who will deploy for the eighth time in her military career. "We're going to go get pedicures."

The two will also likely get to spend Thanksgiving together.

The reunion has been in the works for a few months. After Carina, an airman first class who works as a C-130 Hercules crew chief out of Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., was given the choice of a couple different deployed locations to choose from, she collaborated with her mother.

"I told her to push for Balad," said Esther, a Whitter, Calif., native who now lives in Monroe and works as an emergency room nurse with Swedish Hospital in Seattle.

After a couple of years in college, Carina decided it was time for a change in direction and decided to enlist in the Air Force. Having a mother and father who both spent time on active duty likely played a huge roll in Carina's decision, her mother said.

"It was pretty much her decision ... I thought it was great," Esther said. "She likes it and she's having fun."

And Esther is cherishing the fact that she'll be able to spend an important phase of her daughter's Air Force career with her.

"Because she's in a career field that deploys pretty often, this deployment will play a significant role in how she chooses to proceed in her career," Esther said. "It's neat that I'm there to kind of share it with her."

Spoken like a true parent.