Naturalization ceremony grants four Team Holloman members citizenship

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Michael J. Means
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  A recent naturalization ceremony took place in El Paso, Texas, and recognized a new group of American citizens. Four of them were members of Team Holloman.

September 24, more than 1,200 applicants were granted U.S. citizenship in a ceremony at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center.

The convention center transformed to a federal court room for the ceremony with the honorable Philip R. Martinez, United States District judge presiding. The ceremony was one of the largest that the El Paso field office has ever conducted officials said.

The applicants were from 57 different countries; among them were Algeria, Barbados, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Haiti, Iran, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Ukraine.

Twenty-one service members, 15 from the Army, four from the Air Force and two from the Marines earned the privilege of participating.

The four Air Force members gaining U.S. citizenship were Senior Airman Frank Johann Inniss of the 49th Fighter Wing, Senior Airman Oscar Alberto Martinez-Esparza of the 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Airman 1st Class Jose Ricardo Solis-Aguilar of the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron and Airman 1st Class Jesse Lerma of the 49th Mission Support Group.

"I was 14 years old when I moved to Hardin, Texas, from Mexico," said Airman Solis-Aguilar. "It feels good to have this process done, I can do more things now in my career like deploy and go overseas," he said.

The process was just as rewarding, but a lot shorter for Airman Lerma.

"I was three months old when I moved to Harlingen, Texas from Linares, Nuevo León, Mexico and it has taken roughly six months for me to get my citizenship," said Airman Lerma. "It's a privilege and an honor to be an American citizen; it also opens up a lot of doors in my career."