Serving the country that welcomed them

by Senior Airman Brittany Y. Bateman
Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs

8/12/2014 - MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- Two Airmen from Minot Air Force Base recently received their United States citizenship. Both Airmen, from the 5th Comptroller Squadron, further cemented their commitment and service to the U.S. during a naturalization ceremony held in Bismarck, North Dakota, July 31.

"I came to the United States six years ago with my family and lived five years in New Mexico. I graduated high school in Alamogordo, New Mexico in 2012," said Airman 1st Class Jens Kaiser. "On June 18, 2013, I joined the Air Force and started the citizenship process. I joined the Air Force to commission as an officer later in my career, and the citizenship was one big step towards it."

Kaiser also said he chose to become a citizen because he believes you should swear your allegiance to one nation only and becoming a citizen puts him one step closer to that belief.

Airman 1st Class Iryna Lutsiv was born in Ukraine, where she spent the first 20 years of her life. After she graduated college, she came to the U.S. to improve her English, which is what she majored in.

"It seemed as a fitting next step after joining U.S. military," Lutsiv said. "My husband served in the Army for six years, with a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. Living around military and seeing what they do inspired me to join; it was my way to give back to the country that welcomed me. Becoming a citizen and committing to this country completely seems only natural."