From stripes to brassBy Capt. Rebecca Garcia

Jonathan Martinez-Paez had what many would consider a successful career and a promising future. He had a high paying job with a software company working out of Birmingham, Ala., and Buffalo, N.Y., as a software consultant and developer.

A successful career had been one of his top three goals since his early teen years and although everything seemed to be going well, he couldn’t escape the nagging memory that his goals and dreams never actually involved being a software developer. Ever since Martinez-Paez was a young boy he had dreamed of being a commissioned officer in the Air Force and an aviator.

With the thought that whether or not you achieve your goals, “It’s better to look back in the future and say, ‘I tried and gave it all I had,’ instead of, ‘What if I had tried?’” Martinez-Paez went to his nearest recruiter.

Although enlisting offers no guarantees, Martinez-Paez knew that “It was a strategy and an opportunity that would grant me the chance to serve my country, earn my naturalization faster and become eligible for a commission.” In June of 2004, Martinez-Paez rolled the dice, signed his enlistment paperwork and crossed into the blue as an Airman 1st Class.

The journey that took now Senior Airman Martinez-Paez from dream to reality actually began at age seven when he and his family took a one-way flight from Panama City, Panama, to what they called “The land of opportunities” to begin a new life in America.

Airman Martinez-Paez’s path to navigator school hasn’t been easy, but by following his heart and sticking to his goals he has found himself at the doorstep of his childhood dream.

“I never would have achieved any of my goals without taking risk, having faith, and fighting hard enough,” said Airman Martinez-Paez.

He has faced a myriad of adversities during the pursuit of his goals — any one choice; any wrong turn could have been the end of his dream to being an aviator.

The first roadblock Airman Martinez-Paez came upon was in his junior year of college in 2000. He was in ROTC and working toward the requirements to graduate with a commission when he was informed that he would not receive a commission upon graduation because his naturalization paperwork process was still at least another five years away. Upon this unsettling news, Airman Martinez-Paez remembered and took comfort in the words of a past coach, “Never let yesterday’s disappointment overshadow tomorrow’s dreams.” Keeping those words in mind, he graduated in 2002 and worked in the civilian sector for two years before enlisting in 2004.

Once Airman Martinez-Paez was in the Air Force he came upon another challenge, humility. He enlisted as an information manager, but his first assignment was in the post office “pitching mail.” He went from a high profile civilian job to the mail room because without a security clearance, he was limited in the nature of his work.

Things changed drastically after his citizenship and security clearance paperwork went through. Two weeks later he found himself deployed to Iraq fixing computers for the entire deployed wing. While deployed, Airman Martinez-Paez continued taking steps to apply for Officer Training School. After months of studying he took the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test and the Test of Basic Aviation Skills. Both of these tests can only be taken twice in a lifetime. Performance was crucial.

Airman Martinez-Paez came home last year after a successful deployment, but to another challenge. He had not scored well enough on the verbal portion of the AFOQT and had only one more chance to succeed.

Airman Martinez-Paez gave significant kudos to all the individuals who helped him study for the retest. Lt. Col. Reynald Lops, 27th Fighter Wing director of staff “was a huge influence.” He quizzed him daily and offered him “great leadership advice as an officer,” said Airman Martinez-Paez. Master Sgt. Cynthia Mateka, 27th FW administration, was also of great help by supporting him with time management.

When he retested he scored three times higher on the verbal portion. “Still not a great score, but it was high enough to apply for aviator training,” said Airman Martinez-Paez.

In December of 2005, with the prayers and blessings of his family, Senior Airman Martinez-Paez turned in his application for OTS and aviator training. He received word March 2 when Col. Scott West, 27th FW commander took him into his office and gave him the good news that all of his efforts had paid off. Out of 269 applicants, 216 were selected across the U.S. for OTS. Only 55 were active-duty Airmen. He was one of the individuals selected, and now Airman Martinez-Paez is on his way to achieving his dream of being an Air Force aviator.