Photo By Keith Hayes | Lt. Cmdr. Raymond H. Oviedo, the new Resident Officer in Charge of Construction aboard...... read more read more
MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. - The newest Navy officer aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow joined the service in part to become a U.S. citizen, and also to see the world.
“Like the ads say it’s not just a job but an adventure,” said Lt. Cmdr. Raymond H. Oviedo, the new Resident Officer in Charge of Construction aboard the base.
The native of Baguio City, Philippines, came from a middle-class family.
“My dad was a teacher and my mom’s a (certified public accountant), but that’s by Third World standards,” Oviedo pointed out.
“The Philippines had an allotment of 200 people who could join the U.S. military a year,” Oviedo said
He enlisted in the Navy Feb. 14, 1992, and completed his boot camp training in Orlando, Fla.
Then for the next nine years he toured, among other places, the Army’s Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo., to continue his training in his chosen Navy Enlisted Classification of engineering aide.
“I already had my civil engineering degree from Saint Louis University in Baguio City before I enlisted in the Navy in the Philippines,” Oviedo said.
“In 2011, I attended (the University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and graduated last summer with a Master’s in civil engineering.”`
Throughout his career, Oviedo has also been stationed at San Diego, Port Hueneme, Calif., Camp Pendleton, South Korea, and deployed to Guam, Puerto Rico, Okinawa, Japan, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Haiti, Kuwait, Somalia, and Afghanistan.
After nine years as an enlisted man, the petty officer first class decided he wanted to be an officer.
“Part of your requirement to get commissioned as a Naval officer is to get citizenship.
“I applied for (Officer Candidate School) in 2000. The opportunity was there and I determined there was something better for me, so I went for it,” Oviedo said.
It was at OCS training in Pensacola, Fla., that he met a Marine who would re-enter his life 11 years later.
“My (OCS) drill instructor was actually then-Gunnery Sgt. (Donovan) White, now sergeant major of MCLB Barstow. I believe I was in his last class before he got transferred somewhere else,” the ROICC said.
Being stationed at MCLB Barstow has created a situation for Oviedo’s wife and four children that is pretty common for many who choose the military life.
“I’m a geographic bachelor, because my family is in Long Beach,” he said. “I go home on the weekends to see them.”
Oviedo believes joining the Navy has been one of the best decisions he has ever made because of what it has taught him.
“Organization, hard work, appreciation of my skills, ability to work with a team, professionalism and just being a living testament that if you want something badly enough you just have to aim for it and you can achieve it. It’s a matter of believing in yourself and doing it,” Oviedo said.
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2012 15:25 |
| Story ID: | 83305 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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