Photo By Master Sgt. Nathaniel Allen | U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Martin Perez, deputy commander of the 374th Maintenance Group...... read more read more
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A man stands on the flightline, the Guam sun warming his scalp and the wind pressing against his face as maintainers hustle around him, performing the critical maintenance needed to launch a C-130J Hercules into Operation Christmas Drop’s demanding tempo.
From above, aircrew members can spot the man—a small figure framed within one of Andersen Air Force Base’s iconic keyhole-shaped parking spaces. Some time before, the man watched the aircraft lift into the sky, just as he has for so many others before it. In a few hours, he’ll watch it return—completing its mission, back where it started.
While Perez, deputy commander of the 374th Maintenance Group at Yokota Air Base, Japan, wasn’t born in Guam, he’s never been far from it. Born at Yokota Air Base, Japan, to parents from Guam, Perez’s connection to the island has never wilted. While his military upbringing found him stationed at various locations throughout the Pacific theater, summers spent with extended family on the island kept him connected, even when duty pulled him elsewhere.
“We always took a hop home to Guam and we would spend the whole summer here,” he said. “I would get the familiarity of it—get reacquainted with the family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and stuff like that. Then, we’d always go back to wherever we were stationed, but I’ve always felt pulled back to this island.”
In more ways than one, Perez has followed in his father’s footsteps - an Air Force crew chief. His father’s blue ties and a natural talent for maintenance made being a maintenance officer a natural fit.
“My dad…growing up, we’d work on cars together. I would go to the flightline with him, do security checks, and ride around in the truck. I would see all those kinds of things. Maintenance was my number one choice—it’s what I knew. It also felt like a good personality fit. I’ve also always had a bit of a love for airplanes, too. So, it was all a fit for me.”
Perez’s career has brought him to every corner of the Earth - Hawaii, Canada, Japan, Texas, and more. Now, many years later, Perez has returned to where he came from - not as a summer stay, and not as a dependent, but as a leader. Perez plays a critical role in OCD 2024, ensuring C-130s are ready to execute the 73rd iteration of the Department of Defense’s longest-running humanitarian airlift mission.
For Perez, stepping into this role carries a special sense of pride—as an Airman, a leader, and someone deeply connected to Guam’s culture and people.
“I have a very proud heritage, being from this island, and actually going the officer route and moving into a senior role. To be able to go and do that, and then come back here—back home—definitely means a lot to me,” he said. “I have my Guam family, which is my heritage, where I’m from, and then I also have my Air Force family. For me to be able to put those two families together and be part of this one operation, having a key role in it and being able to contribute, is something I’m extremely proud of.”
Perez said that the strong patriotism of the Guam community, along with its strategic location in the Indo-Pacific theater, make it an ideal choice to host OCD every year. ‘
“Guam is very patriotic, and you’ll always see huge support from the community here. You can’t think of a better place to be this centrally located within this theater, with such a great support network, and with such strong community backing for the U.S. and this whole operation,” he said. “Everyone on the island understands and knows what we do. But to actually be a part of it here is amazing. I’m definitely happy to be here and do whatever I can to help. My family’s very proud of what I’ve been able to do, and I’m very proud to be able to represent them in a positive way.
1st Lt. Jacob Sauers, OCD’s officer in charge of maintenance, said having an experienced senior maintenance officer like Perez at the helm is essential when working at the fast pace OCD demands.
“OCD is a no-fail mission. The impacts, if we’re not able to generate aircraft, are significant—we wouldn’t be able to drop these bundles to the Micronesian Islands,” he said. “A seasoned officer at the helm can oversee operations and ensure we’re tackling obstacles preemptively rather than reactively helps keep us on track. That’s essential when we’re working at this fast pace. If we don’t have aircraft, we don’t have ‘iron’—and without iron, we can’t do the mission. Without maintenance, if we can’t turn and burn, there’s nothing to drop those bundles.”
The mission and target audience of OCD is deeply personal to Perez, both as an Airman and a native islander. However, the observable impact of the mission became clear during a chance encounter at a U.S. Navy exchange on Guam. In Perez’s first year supporting OCD, he was standing in line with a friend at the checkout when a woman in front of him noticed his friend’s flight suit and the patches on his chest. He recalled the conversation going something like this:
“Are you here with OCD?” she asked.
Perez nodded, expecting a casual conversation. Instead, the woman smiled and said, “I just want to say ‘thank you.’”
She explained that she had grown up on one of the islands supported by the mission.
“I remember waving at the airplanes when I was a kid and watching the bundles fall from the sky,” she said. “We always knew something special was coming.”
The memory of that encounter has stayed with Perez ever since, and drives the transformation of a demanding military operation into a meaningful reminder of the people on the receiving end of each bundle loaded and launched.
As for Perez, his career isn’t quite ready to come in for a landing yet. He’s set to be the next 374th Maintenance Group commander at some point in the future. However, for now, his feet are planted in a place he knows very well - inside a giant cement keyhole underneath the familiar Guam sun, leading determined maintainers doing everything they can to make sure bundles arrive on schedule to Pacific Islander communities.
Like the C-130s he helps launch, Perez’s journey has always followed a similar pattern—lifting off from places he knows well, navigating new challenges, and inevitably returning home. The flightline might seem to some like a vast ocean full of concrete, grass, and wind, but for Perez, it’s where heritage, service, and purpose intersect. A mission starts, lives are changed, and eventually, everything comes back around.
| Date Taken: | 12.09.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2024 23:50 |
| Story ID: | 487048 |
| Location: | ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GU |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Maintenance Officer Rooted in Guam Returns Home for OCD 24, by MSgt Nathaniel Allen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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