Presque Isle brothers enlist together Kennedy siblings headed to Germany for fire support specialist training

PRESQUE ISLE – Jarrod and Ryan Kennedy are brothers who like to do things together – such as joining the U.S. Army.

The Presque Isle siblings, who were born in Kensington, Prince Edward Island, and moved to Maine at a young age, enlisted in August.

Jarrod Kennedy, 20, will head to Oklahoma on Dec. 29 for basic training while Ryan, 21, will follow in the next few months.

Sgt. 1st Class Steven Vachon, at the recruiting station, said in his six years of recruiting in New England, he has heard of just three sets of siblings joining together.

The Kennedys said last week that they joined, in part, for the opportunity to travel and see the world. They don’t think their paths will include fighting in Iraq.

“By the time we get through training, it may have calmed down in Iraq,” Jarrod Kennedy said.

His brother agreed.

“I’m not really worried about going to Iraq,” Ryan Kennedy said. “It seems so far away.”

Both chose to train as fire support specialists. They’ll serve as the eyes for an artillery unit, but won’t deal with direct combat, Staff Sgt. Patrick Smith said.

Both will spend two years in Germany on the job, possibly even at the same Army base.

Their plans for Europe were hatched after Jarrod Kennedy made a “spur of the moment” decision last summer to stop by the U.S. Army recruiting station at the Aroostook Centre Mall.

Because they basically grew up in the United States – they’ve lived in Maine since 1986 and became U.S. citizens about five years ago – their first thoughts were of the United States armed services, not the Canadian military.

The brothers were set to enlist at the same time, but Ryan ended up enlisting earlier because he was scheduled to begin his last semester at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where he recently received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics.

Jarrod enlisted at the end of the month and recently finished the first semester of his junior year at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, where he was seeking a business degree.

Even though the brothers believe it is unlikely that they will wind up in Iraq, they realize that someday they may be sent to “some kind of hostile surrounding.”

“When you sign your papers, you have to be ready for anything,” Ryan Kennedy said.