Blast from the past

Capt. Homero Martinez, Air Force Recruiting Service Headquarters, shakes hands with Staff Sgt. Greg Cruz, 12th Civil Engineering Squadron, following Cruz’ reenlistment at Randolph AFB June 18. Martinez brought Cruz into the Air Force when he was an enlisted recruiter back in 1998. (Courtesy photo by Ms. Angelica Delgado)

Officer reenlists NCO he brought into Air Force decade ago

Published June 19, 2007
By Maj. Sean McKenna
Air Force Recruiting Service Public Affairs

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least that's true for Capt. Homero Martinez and Staff Sgt. Greg Cruz.

In 1998, then-Staff Sgt. Martinez was the recruiter who brought Cruz, a quiet Littlefield (Texas) High School student excelling in cross-country running, into the Air Force. On June 18, the two men met up once again as Martinez had the privilege of reenlisting Cruz at the fire station here.

"It was an honor for Sergeant Cruz to ask me to perform his reenlistment ceremony," Martinez said. "I can remember like it was yesterday the two of us sitting in my recruiting office in Lubbock, Texas. I knew from the beginning he was going to do great things for the Air Force."

Both men have come a long way in nine years.

Martinez received his bachelor's degree in 1999, earned his commission through Officer Training School and became a finance officer. He is now the event marketing chief at Air Force Recruiting Service. Meanwhile, Cruz left Littlefield (population: 6,507) for basic military training at Lackland AFB in June 1998 and is now a decorated firefighter. Last year he was honored as the 12th Flying Training Wing's Noncommissioned Officer of the year.

"I will always be grateful to Homero Martinez for helping me get into the Air Force," said Cruz, who deployed to the war last year in Sather Air Base, Iraq, and needs only one more class to earn his Community College of the Air Force degree. "The Air Force has allowed me to experience so much and to make a difference."

While there is no telling where Martinez and Cruz will be nine years from now, they will always be linked to a tiny Texas panhandle town where both men made lasting commitments to the Air Force.

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