Airman who was born on Ellsworth AFB gets stationed there more than 20 years later

"Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"I mustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later."

Senior Airman Kelsey Helms laughs on the phone as her dad tells a corny joke. It's how they bond and keep in touch even though Helms, who's stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, is more than 1,000 miles away from home.

But, that's not the only thing the two share. Both Helms and her father are in the Air Force and they both have a connection to the base in Box Elder.

"My dad was stationed here in 1994-1997."

While this is Helms first base, it's not her first time on Ellsworth.

"In December, actually Christmas day, I was born here on base," said Helms.

While she only lived on base for the first few years of her life, she still can't believe that nearly 24 years later, her journey is coming full circle.

"It was completely random," she says. "When I saw Ellsworth Air Force Base, I was baffled. I immediately called my dad and was like, this is crazy. And he was like, are you serious? Ellsworth is still a base?"

Coming from a military family, she said enlisting in the Air Force was natural for her and she's grateful to share Ellsworth with her dad.

"Not a lot of people get to say that they were stationed at the same place as their parent," she added.

Although her father is stationed in Georgia and her mother who is in the National Guard is stationed in Ohio, she still has fun swapping stories with her parents about their time in South Dakota.

"They got to travel the world and meet so many awesome people so now it's my turn," said Helms.

She wants to be on the same base as her father again in the future, but hopefully at the same time.

"I'm hopeful I can get close to him. It would be great to have him come over to my house and I can tell him jokes in person."