Sky High Sisters

Frontiersman

When Capt. Meghan Fridley, a 1998 Houston High School graduate, has problems with a plane she's flying, she only has to look to her younger sister, Vanessa, to lend a helping hand.

While Meghan flies planes, Vanessa fixes them, and together, they are bringing their sister act to the U.S. Air Force every day.

Meghan, a C-17 pilot in the Air Force, is currently stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Washington, while Vanessa, a first lieutenant in the Air Force, is in charge of an aircraft mechanic wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

&#8220We're so proud of them both,” said their mother, Joan Fridley. &#8220They're lifelong Alaskans, and none of us are real inclined to boast about their accomplishments, but we're very proud.”

After graduating from Houston High School, Meghan went to the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she earned a degree in astronautical engineering.

While there, she developed a passion for flying, and decided to become a pilot.

&#8220Living in Big Lake, you are around planes all the time. Our neighbors had planes, but we didn't. My mom is terrified of flying,” Meghan joked from Oklahoma, where is in training. &#8220I got into space as a kid and wanted to do something with that, but I love flying, too.”

Vanessa took a different path to the military. After her 2000 graduation from Houston, she attended Colorado State University and was a member of the ROTC program there.

After graduating with a degree in sociology and criminal justice, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force.

She decided to go into aircraft maintenance, and now is in charge of 250 men and women who work on F-15 fighter jets.

The Fridleys don't exactly look the part of soldiers, however - they more resemble actresses playing soldiers in a movie.

&#8220What is amazing about them is they could both be models,” their mother wrote in an e-mail. &#8220The do not look anything at all like your run of the mill military people.”

Both Valley women went into fields typically dominated by men. Meghan said she's always been welcomed, but that some of the men she works with sometimes question her age.

&#8220A lot of them say, ‘You can't be old enough to do this! You look like you could be my daughter,'” she said with a a laugh. &#8220They think I'm too small, too. But you kind of have to fit in. After they know you can do the job, you are just part of the team.

&#8220They respect me, and I respect them,” Meghan said.

The sisters were both in the Valley together last Christmas, but otherwise, they are miles apart. After growing up together, now they trade stories on the phone.

A recent deployment to Qatar brought them together, and Meghan said it was a lot of fun having her younger sister around for the first time in years.

&#8220I was there for two months and she was there for four. During the day, we didn't see much of each other because our jobs are different, but we'd work out together and eat dinner together,” Meghan said. &#8220It was the longest we'd been together since high school.”

Contact Casey Ressler at

352-2265 or valleylife@

frontiersman.com.