Joe Engleson

ANSO continues to foster the personal growth and professional development of Hispanic officers and civilian individuals by providing mentorship, career based networking, training and educational opportunities. ANSO provides members with skilled professional mentors for the purpose of developing leadership skills and inspiring enlisted members to remain in the Service well beyond their initial commitment.

In June of 2012, Matthew Alexander Angel, a young Hispanic male, was identified by ANSO volunteers as a man who had the potential to serve as a Naval Officer. Matthew, who despite having his Bachelors in Primary Education, was barely scrapping by earning $1,400 a month as a substitute teacher. Our volunteers saw that he wasn’t fulfilling his full potential at his current position and it was agreed that Matthew was to enroll in our Mentor Shadow Program. Matthew was recruited by three ANSO members, who aligned with his personal story and career aspirations, and mentored him through our educational and career focused program which specializes in creating opportunities which otherwise wouldn’t be available to Matthew and many others like him.

Brian Alvara, one of the ANSO members who also served as an officer recruiter, mentored him through the process, providing career based information and instructional advise on how to accomplish Matthew’s aspirations. Matthew had now begun to shadow his matched executives, allowing him unparalleled access into future career paths. This tailored mentoring is aimed to inspire the mentee to perform best professional and life practices, developing leadership skills, and inspiring members to accomplish life goals. Our mentors help our Hispanic members, like Matthew, build their networks so they are able to translate the skills they’ve learned into future career paths.

To ensure Matthew’s success, Brian Alvara and other ANSO mentors, had him studying for the officer entry exam (ASTB), right away and recommended a workout program for OCS (Officer Candidate School). ANSO mentors guided Matthew through the process and assisted him with the application and the medical clearance procedures. ANSO, utilizing its vast network of seasoned career professionals, connected Matthew with an ANSO contact in Naval Aviation to get him an interview with a Senior Naval Aviator. By creating objectives and establishing program key performance indicators (KPIs), ANSO was able to garner the support Matthew needed to realize his full potential.

In July 2016, Matthew Angel completed all flight training requirements and today he is a successful Lieutenant (junior grade) serving as a P8 Poseidon pilot, and currently deployed to Sigonella, Sicily with the United States Navy. To this day, Matthew still has access to all ANSO members to receive mentoring on proper career management to reach his promotion objectives in the Navy.

Submitted by Al Angel, USN (Retired)

When I enlisted in the Coast Guard, it was hard for me to believe that I would possess the qualities that the service would be looking for in an officer. I am a Latina, born and raised in a Spanish-speaking country and although I have lots of great qualities, I was still far from being perfect and it was that gap that made me hesitate so much.

“Do I have the technical expertise that they need? Are my qualities really special? Why would they pick someone who has a strong accent as I do?” Those were some of my (many) insecurities. Two things I knew for sure: I possess a great ability to learn new things and I am a very optimistic person.

When we think about leaders, we think about extremely gifted people who possess amazing qualities that make them unrealistically unique. Sometimes it is hard for us to think that leaders are regular people like you and me. I learned English on my own without any formal courses when I was 14, and before joining the service I was a very successful entrepreneur in the private sector for more than 10 years, overcoming all the challenges of the worst economic recession of the past 60 years.

As Latinos, sometimes we do not realize that we are really unique. We are all natural-born leaders. We have all dealt with difficult situations; we know how powerful diversity can be; and we feel great taking care of people and helping them to achieve their goals. We treat everybody as family, and for Latinos, family is sacred. Regardless of the circumstances that we might be experiencing, we wake up every morning thankful to be alive and optimistic about everything around us. We do not think about how bad things might be. We are always thinking about solutions to make things better, and that mi amigo(a), is exactly what the Armed Forces is looking for.

Leaders
Achievers
Talented
Innovative
Noble
Optimistic
Supportive (and “Super nice” too…)

Therefore, I invite you today to challenge yourself, to pursue your goals no matter how difficult they might seem. I encourage you to start, continue or complete your education; to advance in your military career as much as you can; to always keep improving yourself, and most importantly, never forget to help others on your way up.

We have what the services need. We are all special and unique. We are Latinos!

Submitted by Tamaris Hidalgo, Ensign, USCG