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Guam Air National Guard Airmen bring Island pride to deployed location

  • Published
  • By By Capt. Cathleen Snow
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  If you want world-class service with a smile there's no better place to go than to a tropical Island where you can be treated like royalty.

Deployed Airmen of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia don't have to go anywhere to get this five-star hospitality since nine Air National Guard Airmen showed up with their island-style service.

They are part of the 380th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron deployed from 254th Air National Guard, Guam - an island paradise nestled in the Western Pacific - one of five U.S. territories. Its people, known as Chamorros, have a long history of hosting tourists which is one of their mainstays along with the military presence there.

The Island Airmen are serving up 30-mile wide smiles, the length of the Island where they hail from, and sharing their island ways with the 1,900 Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors who are deployed here far away from home.

They even partnered with fellow guardsmen from Hawaii also deployed here to put on a party luau for their fellow servicemembers.

"Whether deployed or on vacation, we try to pass on our island pride and educate those who don't know much about our island," said Tech. Sgt. Cynthia Fejaran, Roy's Dining Facility Manager here also known as their "deployed mom."

The rest of the team is:
Master Sgt. Richard Rivera, Oasis night shift manager
Tech. Sgt. Jorge Hernandez, Oasis assistant day shift manager
Tech. Sgt. Leira Preuc, Community Access Center dayshift supervisor
Tech. Sgt. Patrick Toves; Roy's dayshift leader
Staff Sgt. Leo Diaz, Thirsty Camel assistant manager
Staff Sgt. Sherri Toves (a distant relation to Patrick), Oasis night shift manager
Airman 1st Class Brian Howard, Fitness specialist
and Airman 1st Class Doreen Dela Cruz, Oasis quality assurance evaluator

Deployments for this team have been as steady as the rain during Guam's wet season. They count 14 among them since 2005. That is why they say they stay close like family and help each other out when they can.

"Through good or bad times, we try to be here for one another," said Sergeant Fejaran. Who said they'll put aside food for one another just as you would for one of your own family members. "Along with a lot of clowning, there's a lot of love," she said.

While they take care of each other they also follow the Chamorro aka: Guamanian word - "taotaomonas" which means "people first" in their native tongue. It's always been their way they said. "We try to bring up spirit de corps for everyone," said Tech. Sergeant Hernandez.

"If your morale is low and you are missing home, have a homemade desert," said Sergeant Fejaran who loves to bake as a form of relaxation. She won't take credit for the idea of dipping the cookies in chocolate which have become very popular at the dining facility, but she has made deserts for special occasions - like her strawberry shortcake and mudpie for the Medal of Honor Dining In --and her first ice cream cake which she whipped up for the FSS commander's birthday, Col. Eric Pierce.

On various deployments and temporary duty locations which the Guam team has been on, local Island dishes have been requested. Some of these special dishes include: red rice, short ribs, different versions of barbecues, kelaguen (meat, hot peppers, lemon juice and grated coconut cooked together, served chilled), lumpia (spring rolls), local potato salad, and the list goes on said the team.

And their deployments keep on coming. They've been deploying at least once every year since 2005. One of their deployments in 2005 took them to another undisclosed location from mid January to mid June. And from September thru December some of the team went into New Orleans and assisted with the relief efforts by cleaning up and providing search, recovery and mortuary support, which is another aspect of the 'services' career field which takes care of people in a different way.

Another one of their island trademarks is their deep respect for people. In addition to everyone they serve, they said they also enjoy the third-country nationals who work alongside them in the dining facility because not only are they hardworking but they are skilled food servers as seen by their detailed fruit carvings and hard work.

Showing their respect through gestures is common for the Island Airmen as Airman Dela Cruz demonstrated a bow of respect and then showed a graceful respect gesture by touching her hand to her nose.

They said being from the largest Micronesian Island, others tend to think their lifestyle reflects that of stereotypical island life but when they are not serving with the military as National Guardsmen, they have a variety of civilian jobs around the island. From business owner to student to probation officer to radiology manager, their Citizenry crosses into various fields.

And aside from their outstanding service, they would like to debunk a few myths about their homeland. Collectively, they agreed on the following:

"Guam is not overrun by brown tree snakes."

"We actually have electricity."

"We don't live in huts."

"We don't use sea shells for money."

"Oh, and yes we have a K-mart."

But what they do do is deploy, a lot, and when they do, they usually follow the services mantra of - "First one up, last one down, up everyone's morale."

As the deployments keep coming so will the "good food, warm smiles and good music," like the island life, according to Airman Dela Cruz who just joined the group and is on her first deployment.

Their next deployment is slated for next year sometime to Afghanistan and with that members of the 254th Guam ANG will pack up their miles of smiles for sharing on that deployment.

The 380th AEW supports Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. It's comprised of five groups and 18 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia.