Naomee Casey ’27 pole vaults skyward and Niomee Casey ’27 flies over hurdles, motivating each other in the classroom and in pursuit of their dream of co-owning an orthodontics practice. They share everything, including a double major in biology and business management. Beyond campus, they are more than teammates and future business partners. (SrA) Niomee Casey and (SrA) Naomee Casey are reservists in the Air Force.

“As an individual you can set goals, and when you’re excelling individually, you help out your team at the same time,” says Naomee who holds the outdoor and indoor school pole vault records.

The Casey sisters embraced opportunities to set personal goals and contribute to team efforts instilled since their first days flipping on a gymnastics mat and from their parents’ military service.

“We knew what we wanted to do, but not where we wanted to study,” says Niomee about their choice to enlist. “We didn’t have a normal student-athlete experience to visit schools because we graduated at the end of the pandemic. As reservists, we were able to receive training with related skills right away while we decided on schools.”

Naomee and Niomee, who transferred to Beloit College from Pittsburg State University in Kansas, credit Brian Bliese, head track & field coach, with providing opportunities to grow that work with their Air Force Reserve responsibilities. For the past four years, each of them has dedicated one weekend a month and two weeks a year to their Air Force Reserve unit.

Naomee works in medical logistics, conducting inventory, managing the transport of supplies, and distributing materials to correct locations. Niomee engages with doctors and support personnel, documenting patient care as part of her medical administration assignment.

“The experience has been more than what I expected, especially the travel,” says Naomee. “I’ve been to Hawaii, San Diego, and Suriname,” she adds. Last summer’s assignment became the topic of their Beloit & Beyond Conference presentation, “Building Bridges Through Service: A Humanitarian Mission to Suriname.” The presentation detailed their experience as part of the Amistad25 mission last July.

The two-week joint mission between the United States Air Force Reserve, United States Active Duty, and the Canadian Army provided free medical and dental care to underserved communities at three locations in the small South American country, with a total of 849 patient interactions and 2,749 procedures. They engage with fellow reservists from many different careers while on assignment, and this experience impressed the Casey sisters enough to change their career goals.

“I was going to be a physical therapist and my sister was premed. Now a Canadian dentist we met on the mission has become a mentor, and we’ve been exploring sports dentistry as an added service,” adds Niomee. Another highlight of their mission to Suriname was witnessing the country’s first female president take office.

During their Beloit & Beyond Conference presentation, they described how they use problem solving and leadership skills developed during Air Force Reserve missions to manage classes, sports, business side projects, and military commitments. Niomee and Naomee also model this growth mindset in their roles as student workers assisting the athletic trainer and as Orientation Leaders this past August.

The sisters laugh when asked what they do in their downtime. “We’ve been in sports since we were seven. It’s time to retire.” Their post-Beloit business plan includes gymnastics coaching and management of a multisport gym complex. There’s no telling where Niomee’s and Naomee’s next mission might lead them — to Saint Kitts Virgin Islands or Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to visit family, or to the door of their first business’ location — but their mission will always be to fly high.