My Life Of A Warrior

Life of a Warrior

I was born in Puerto Rico and raised by a family with very low resources. My native tongue is Spanish and I’m still learning the intricate English language. I have 4 siblings; 3 sisters and 1 brother. My parents are divorced and neither graduated from middle school. However, they are very hard working individuals.

I had a rather troublesome youth given my family’s economic status and my parent’s divorce. But in spite of that, I always put forth great effort and remained in my school’s Honor Roll. Unfortunately, after being suspended for misbehaving and not abiding by the school’s rules, my dad threatened to withdraw me from school; which is something I wasn’t willing to give up. From that point forward, I got my act together and my attitude towards life started to drastically improve.

Upon graduating high school, I enrolled in a local community college, from which I graduated with Cum Laude Honors and received an associate’s degree in Business Administration. When I was 17 years old, I married Victor and we’ve been together for almost 18 years. Now, I’m the proud mother of two beautiful children; my daughter Vimarys is 16 years old and my son Victor Antonio is 14.

After graduating from college, I worked as an executive assistant for 4 years, but I felt that was not what I was meant to do. I always wanted to become an undercover agent, but after getting married and giving birth to my daughter, my priorities changed. As time passed by, I continued to look for ways to get a different job because I felt I was meant for something greater. With the support of my husband and my daughter I decided to join the US Air Force.

I joined the Air Force over 11 years ago in March 26, 2002. Since then, I’ve been serving as a member of the Defensor Fortis, a career field that is constantly teaching me how to be a warrior. It then became a pillar of my success and pride of being an Airman.

The Air Force has sent me to a variety of places. My first duty station was Minot AFB, ND. Thanks to outstanding supervision, I became a SrA below the zone. From there, in 2004, I was PCS’d to Moody AFB, GA. Here my duties and responsibilities showed me how fragile and valuable life can be. I was deployed to Iraq three times. Three times I lived amidst bombs, mortars, gunfire, and the threat of a sharpshooter that made part of our daily existence. Because of that, I had the misfortune of losing one of our bothers in arms. These circumstances led me to seek refuge in alcohol. Luckily, I managed to control my misguided impulses and prevented it from becoming a problem and as result I achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant.

In 2008 I applied for and was selected to be an instructor for the Inter-American Air Forces Academy. Part of the IAAFA mission is to teach and train the forces across our borders and to bolster the strength and camaraderie of the forces of the American continent. I carried out this role for 5 years, where I instructed a multitude of warriors; but most importantly, I discovered a new perspective of life thanks to different points of view provided by my foreign students.

Amidst my IAAFA assignment, I started conditioning myself mentally and physically; for 5K runs, ranger shuffles with a 45lbs backpack, marathons, and triathlons. As a result, I achieved a 100% in my fitness exam. I discovered that the use of physical activities such as running 6 to 8 miles was a far greater destressor, as opposed to hiding behind alcoholic beverages; which could have led to a financial burden. At this point I had achieved my promotion to Technical Sergeant.

By the culmination of my assignment, I received orders to the 99 Security Forces Squadron on Nellis AFB. I arrived on station on January 2013 and leadership has made me feel like a part of the SF family since day one.

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