Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Sirrina E. Martinez | Sgt. Alexis Maria Bonilla, Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, Oct. 11, 2022. Bonilla is the...... read more read more
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AL ASAD AIR BASE, IRAQ- Sgt. Alexis Maria Bonilla, remembers riding through the Panama Canal on a mission to El Salvador in 2018, and getting a glimpse of where her paternal roots began.
“It was pretty cool,” Bonilla said, of getting to see the canal and meet local nationals. “Some of the workers on the canal came up to me and were selling us hats and giving us little goodies, they brought with them. I was talking to them, and they said it was really crazy to see females in uniform because they do not see them all that often there.”
The beginning of her familial tie to the small country of Panama started with her grandfather, Manuel Bonilla. After immigrating from Panama in 1952, for reasons unknown to her, Bonilla said, Manuel’s first stop was New York City, where he met and married Iris McCole. They had five children, including her father, Matthew. Working in construction as an adult, Matthew moved his family around often, eventually ending up in Baltimore where Bonilla was born.
Growing up, she recalled listening to various Spanish artists while her father would translate the lyrics to her and her sisters. Out of all the aspects of her culture, the one thing that keeps her the most connected to her heritage is music, Bonilla said.
“Definitely music,” she said. “Spanish music overall. We listened to Daddy Yankee, Aventura, and Enrique Iglesias and other Spanish music like that.”
Another tie that she holds to her culture, Bonilla said, is her strong work ethic and fierce independence. Before joining the Army, she learned how to do a lot of mechanical work on vehicles herself, so that she could be confident that the job was done right, she said.
“I thought, ‘what if I just know how do to it myself, by myself,'” she said. "So that way that I know it is being done right and won’t have to come back for something else because they (the mechanic) might have missed something.”
Now deployed as a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 347th Regional Support Group, Minnesota Army National Guard, Bonilla is the non-tactical vehicle manager for the Base Operations Support – Integrating team at AAAB. Managing a fleet of over 100 vehicles, she is responsible for overseeing the maintenance of the fleet, and for making, issuing, and tracking fuel permit cards for everyone on base.
Her dedication to her work, and ability to solve problems independently has not gone unnoticed by her team. Staff Sgt Miranda Williams, the deputy mayor for the BOS-I at AAAB, said that Bonilla’s knowledge has helped her to be an expert in her work, dedicated to serving the personnel of AAAB.
“Sgt. Bonilla is very knowledgeable when it comes to NTV maintenance and vehicle recovery operations” Williams said. “She uses that knowledge to help maintain the fleet of vehicles she has signed for on AAAB.”
Although she has been faced with tough obstacles in her, job, Bonilla has found ways to solve problems through her resourcefulness and expertise,” Williams said.
“She is able get out of tough situations that some of the personnel leave her in,” Williams said. “She has found multiple different ways to get vehicles off base that need to be towed without actually having a tow truck. She is resourceful in finding personnel that can help her. That is a testament to her work ethic because she is dedicated to providing a working NTV fleet to Army personnel on AAAB.”
With Hispanic Heritage month coming to a close, Bonilla reflected on the importance of the observance, how it helps her to remember and appreciate the struggles her family endured, and the encouragement she received to pursue an education.
“I think this month is important in the aspect of recognizing all the struggles that everyone has had to deal with.” Like my dad, he struggled. He was always working, always working long hours and being stereotyped in what people thought he could do.”
The struggles her family faced, she said, created an environment in which she was encouraged to do well in school, so that one day she could make a better life for herself.
“My father definitely encouraged me to get good grades in school,” she said. “When I was younger, he would make me write my spelling words over and over front and back of the page for each word. Because I got a bad grade once, and now I try to get good grades because they are important.”
Now, she is studying psychology at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul and hopes to work in the area of criminal profiling, where she can continue to solve problems, and to change the family story.
“My mom never finished college,” she said. “She went to medical school and had to drop out to take care of her kids, so, I want to get a degree and get a good job that pays well because of how we struggled growing up.”
| Date Taken: | 10.10.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.15.2022 16:31 |
| Story ID: | 431403 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 139 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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