aapi
Joint Base Andrews, MD — Airman 1st Class Carlos León, a munitions systems technician with the 113th Wing, D.C. Air National Guard, is of mixed race heritage. Born and raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to a Peruvian father and a half Nicaraguan and half Samoan mother, he always felt connected to...
CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan — U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Michael Auvaa, the inbound personnel first-stage noncommissioned officer-in-charge at the Installation Personnel Administration Center on Camp Foster, hails from a small island in the South Pacific Ocean — a U.S. possession in the Southern...

![Airman 1st Class Carlos León, munitions systems technician, 113th Maintenance Squadron, poses for a photo in traditional Samoan attire, May 14, 2021, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. His traditional tatatau (pe’a) was done by Tufuga Sulu’ape Sili Liufau, over a period of 10 sessions in a month’s time. [U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Anthony Small] Airman 1st Class Carlos León](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/aapi_airman_lst_class_leon.jpg?itok=ES0mlfmH)
![Cpl. Michael Auvaa poses for a portrait in Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, May 18, 2021. The month of May represents and pays tribute to Asian-American and Pacific-Islander heritage, and recognizes the contribution and influences their cultures made which play an instrumental part in the past, present and future success of the United States of America. Auvaa grew up in A’asu, American Samoa, and moved to Anchorage, Alaska when he was 16 years-old, and became a Marine two years later in 2018. [photo: Lance Cpl. Alex Fairchild] Cpl. Michael Auva](https://www.samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/cpl_michael_auvaa-1.jpg?itok=u8ERhRxW)