It's one of the highest promotions the Air Force can give, Master Sergeant, something Noelle Scala has worked her whole life towards.
When she found out she was receiving the honor, after 14 years of dedicated service, she was thrilled.
"This is one of the biggest steps in my career besides graduating from basic training," said Scala. "To have my parents there meant the world to me. I wanted them to be apart of that."
Knowing her Texan parents and Air Force veterans likely couldn't make the journey to the Mountain Home Air Force Base because of a series of health problems, some adjustments were made and the ceremony was re-routed to take place at a base in Fort Worth.
"My dad was so excited that he cried and my mom just she was over the moon about it. They couldn't wait for me to be able to come home and pin these stripes on me," said Scala.
But just days before the ceremony, both Betty and Joe, Scala's parent, landed in the hospital about to miss the biggest moment of their daughter's life.
"It was an emotional drain on us," said Scala's mom Betty.
"It was just disparity," said Scala's dad Joe.
Patient care facilitator Britton Smith could see the disappointment.
"As a parent, I cant even imagine not being able to see my kid have a promotion that large," said Smith.
Smith and other hospital staff went to work, calling the Air Force to see if there was any way Joe and Betty could be apart of their daughter's big day, and wouldn't you know it, there was.
Officials who already agreed to move the ceremony to Fort Worth moved it again, this time to the hospital so both Air Force parents could give their daughter the Master Sergeant pin.
"I will never be able to replace that moment. That's a moment that will stay with me forever. It was one of the best moments of my life," said Scala.
