{"id":178406,"date":"2024-05-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=178406"},"modified":"2024-05-17T20:38:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T20:38:14","slug":"district-of-columbia-guard-pilot-proud-of-filipino-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=178406","title":{"rendered":"District of Columbia Guard pilot proud of Filipino roots"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Alora, operations officer and UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, District of Columbia Army National Guard, stands for a photograph at Davison Army Airfield, Va., April 16, 2024.
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WASHINGTON \u2014 As a District of Columbia Army National Guard operations officer and UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Alora is a role model for young adults who embrace goals, contingency plans and options.<\/p>\n

\u201cI joined the U.S. Army originally serving active duty in 2010,\u201d Alora said. \u201cI was an aircraft electrician who was drawn to aviation, public service and a college education \u2014 and why not do all three simultaneously.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, for six years before relocating back home to California and eventually transferring to the D.C. National Guard. Reflecting on his dynamic military career, he is reminded of his own family\u2019s response to significant challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a first-generation Filipino American. My mother and grandmother moved here to the United States in the 1980s, and we had to learn how to adapt and contribute,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to show people that someone like me can climb the ranks as a U.S. Army aviator making a positive difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders across various nationalities and ancestry \u2014 Filipino, Southeast Asian, Asian Indian, Polynesian, Korean, Chinese and Japanese \u2014 have a rich legacy of honorable service in the United States dating to the War of 1812.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think too many Americans either forget or don\u2019t know the number of key leaders in the AAPI community who have made profound impacts in defense and overall society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

During World War II, his paternal grandfather served in the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, part of a highly trained military unit focused on Japanese suppression and defense in the Pacific. In 1942, three months after the start of the Battle of Bataan, his grandfather was a prisoner of war in the Bataan Death March, a grim reality of war where POWs were sometimes tortured and killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather\u2019s courage inspired me to serve my country,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing he\u2019s part of American history makes me very proud. And I think there\u2019s much more space and precedence for AAPI representation in the military. Yes, we\u2019ve faced challenges like every other minority has faced, but that shouldn\u2019t deter us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relevance and diversity are more than words and commemorative themes for Alora. In addition to an active presence in the National Capital Region, DCARNG Aviation comprises four units with AAPI visibly represented in all sections, from pilots and maintainers to administration and operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve drilled with several different National Guard states, but I think the D.C. National Guard ranks high in diversity. Not only in terms of race, but all the protected backgrounds to include religion and sexual orientation,\u201d said Lt. Col. Ryan Rooks, state Army Aviation officer, D.C. National Guard. \u201cI\u2019m always proud to tell people that I\u2019m a Capital Guardian because of the diversity that we have and what that represents. Diversity is a strength because it brings a significant number of perspectives, and all those factors will only strengthen an organization. How we all contribute to fight our nation\u2019s wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more National Guard news<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

National Guard X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Alora, operations officer and UH-60 Black Hawk pilot, District of Columbia Army National Guard, stands for a photograph at Davison Army Airfield, Va., April 16, 2024. (Photo Credit: Photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Arthur Wright) VIEW ORIGINAL WASHINGTON \u2014 As a District of Columbia Army National Guard operations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178408,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=178406"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178409,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178406\/revisions\/178409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/178408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=178406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=178406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=178406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}