By: Ashley Chen
For many seniors, the next step after graduation is college. However, Chief Petty Officer Fritzjon Lucero and Senior Earl Rios have other plans in addition to attending college. After graduating, both will join the United States Navy while completing their degrees.
He plans to join the Navy for 20 years, Lucero said. After his first enlistment, which is around three to four years of active duty, he hopes to attend the prestigious and reputable United States Naval Academy, he continued.
“Most naval aviators are actually from the Naval Academy,” Lucero said. “My goal is getting my diploma, college, becoming an officer in the Navy, and being able to actually be an aviator and fly the F18s.”
As of July 26, he will be going to boot camp in Great Lakes, Illinois, for approximately eight weeks, Rios said. Afterwards, he will attend A school and C school and wait to find out where he will be stationed, he continued. A school teaches recruits the fundamentals of their Navy jobs, while C school focuses on training for a specific job. His contract is five years with the Navy, and he is planning to stay for about 25 years, he said.
“I’m planning to get stationed in San Diego, go to San Diego State University, get my bachelor’s degree and my master’s through the Navy,” Rios said. “I’ll be majoring in business management. Part of my family does major in business management, a majority of my family does, so [I am] basically following in their footsteps. I want to do it for myself, too.”
All of his uncles are in the Navy and in every single branch of the military, Rios said. So, he decided to follow in their footsteps, he continued.
Being in Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) since his freshman year has influenced him, Lucero said. NJROTC has structured him, prepared him for joining the Navy, and solidified his decision to enlist, he said.
“[Skills I gained from NJROTC are] definitely knowledge, as in the general orders,” Lucero said. “Pretty much all of our knowledge in the NJROTC program is reflected into the actual military. We still learn the ranks and the customs, [and] me going into the military after high school [with this knowledge] will make it a lot easier for me than someone who is just a regular civilian who is going in.”
Since middle school, he has known that he was going to enlist, Lucero said. He wanted to improve as a leader, and out of all the options he had, the Navy had the biggest potential for him, he continued.
“If I went with any other corporate job or business, that will be much more of a harder route than being in the Navy where they will give you tasks because the military gives you more leadership opportunities than anywhere else,” Lucero said. “With the military, you are actually getting those experiences which actually prepares you for the private sector. Because who’s going to have a better chance of getting a job for an engineering job, the person who has worked on that field or someone who has just been studying it and thinking about the theories of it?”
Both Lucero and Rios have relatives or friends in the military whom they admire. Lucero’s role model is Harvey Nguyen from class of 2017, who attends the United States Naval Academy. Rios looks up to his grandpa, a retired Master Sergeant in the Navy, who recommended him to join if he wanted to be independent.
“I want to have benefits in my life,” Rios said. “I want to be independent. If you go to college, you rely on your parents to do that. If you’re in the military, you’re on your own, and you rely on your second family. You become more independent and strong, and become a better leader compared to people who do go to college, I’m not saying they don’t, but it’s harder to maintain that.”
Don’t hesitate, just continue on, and don’t listen to what people are saying, Rios said when asked what advice he would give to students considering taking the same path as he. If you’re uncertain, try to see your options first; go check in with a recruiter, see what they have to offer, and try to imagine yourself in that position, Lucero commented.
