By Lt Col Maritzel G. Castrellon
Chief, Personnel Services Branch
CENTCOM CCJ1, MacDill AFB, FL
(
L-R) Maritzel’s father Victor La Placa, brother Daniel La Placa, Maritzel
Latina Letters From the Front
Castr
Castrellon and two of her dad’s students in Lackland AFB, 1994.
My military heritage started way
before I was born. This intricate story
began in the early 1900s when my
paternal grandfather, the son of two Italian
immigrants, moved from Hell’s Kitchen, New York to
the once known, Panama Canal Zone in the country
of Panama. He was enlisted in the Army, separated
from the Army while he was in Panama and then
married my grandmother, the daughter of Spanish
immigrants. My father was born in an Army hospital,
went to an American high school and then enlisted
in the Air Force. Two years later, he married my
mother, the daughter of two Panamanians and
consequently, my brother and I were born.
We were raised in Panama and experienced
the typical life of a military “BRAT” (describes the
child of someone serving full-time in the United
States Armed Forces). I was born in the same
hospital as my father in 1981 and graduated from
the same high school in 1999. We lived in the
American bubble of the Panama Canal Zone, one
we now call, “the lost paradise” due to the
Americans leaving and giving the canal back to the
Panamanians in 1999.
My interest in the military started at an early
age. I would see my father putting on his uniform on
a daily basis as he was getting ready to go to work.
He would often take my brother and I to his work and
we would see the airplanes among other awesome
military artifacts.
When I started high school, I enrolled in the
Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC)
where I did four years upon graduation. My mother,
brothers and I left Panama and moved to Puerto Rico
in 1999 where I started college and once again,
enrolled in the ROTC program but this time it was
the Air Force. I completed my four years of college
and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the
United States Air Force in 2003.
I cannot complain about my 16 ½ years in
the military; it has taken me to places like Texas,
Washington D.C., Colombia, Italy, Colorado, Arizona
and now Florida.
When I was in D.C. the next chapter of my
life started, I became a wife. I met my husband,
Alejandro (also from Panama) in 2007 and we have
been married for almost 11 years. Right when I
thought balancing being a wife and also a military
member was difficult, I threw in the mother role in
2016. We had our first daughter Daniela and then
had our second, Nicole in 2018. I was a commander
during both pregnancies and nursed both of my
babies during command for over 14 months each.
Wow, talk about trying to balance life. I wanted to be
the best in all three roles and I often questioned and
still question if I am falling short in one of them.
The military is my life but like I have told and
still tell my service members - family first. When I got
married and then had kids, I prioritized my life and
always put my family in front of everything.
Maritzel’s commissioning ceremony in
2003. Mother Marisol Chanis, brother
Jaime Sentmat, and Maritzel at the
Capitol Hill in San Juan Puerto Rico.
(L-R) Maritzel’s father Victor La Placa,
Maritzel, Col (Ret) Dawn Sweet, mother
Marisol Chanis at Captain Promotion
Ceremony in Bolling AFB, DC 2007.
The military has taught me so much, but when
I look back, I often think about the reason behind
what most would call a successful career thus far. I
attribute so many of my accomplishments to my
mother. She is the one who taught me discipline,
responsibility, humbleness, respect and love among
other traits.
When I was six years old, my parents divorced
and my mother raised us. My relationship with my
dad continued but my mother shouldered most of
the responsibilities herself. With only a high school
degree on her resume, my hardworking mom
worked her way up from a low-ranking federal
government employee to a top tier specialist in her
field. She sets the standard for me in motherhood, at
work and in life and I will always continue to work
hard to meet that standard.
My life is full of everything I ever asked for and
I’m still hungry for more. I don’t know when I’ll put
the boots in the closet and hang my uniform but one
thing I do know is that I will always be proud and
grateful for everything this country and the military
have given me. LS
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36 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 26, No. 1, 2020
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