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BMT trainees become US citizens under new streamlined naturalization process
April 27, 2023 — Fourteen trainees in Basic Military Training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland raised their right hands and are now the first to complete the new streamlined naturalization process making them U.S. citizens and allowing them to graduate as American Airmen... MORE

Airman First Class D'elbrah Assamoi from Cote D’Ivoire signs her U.S. Certificate of Citizenship after the Basic Military Training Coin Ceremony at JBSA-Lackland, April 26, 2023. Fourteen Airmen became the first U.S. citizens here under the new streamlined Naturalization Process at BMT. The Airmen were part of approximately 500 trainees from the 326th Training Squadron who graduated this week. The process is part of an effort to revive the naturalization path for immigrants and allow trainees to become citizens before they graduate. It’s just one of several initiatives the Air Force is taking to remove barriers to service amid the current challenging recruiting environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Vanessa R. Adame)

One couple’s extraordinary journey to becoming Airmen
November 9, 2022 — A thirty-something couple with college degrees and a pet enlisted in the Air Force to pursue a dream... MORE

Airmen in uniform pose for a photo with a plaque between them.

Military & Family Readiness Center helps DOD members become U.S. citizens
December 22, 2021 — Spirits were high and relief was palpable as twelve participants earned their United States citizenship Dec. 15, 2021, through the naturalization program conducted by the U.S. Citizenship and Naturalization Services at the Military and Family Readiness Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston... MORE

BAMC combat medic earns U.S. citizenship
November 5, 2020 — For most people, waking up as an American citizen is just a given – a circumstance of birth. For one Soldier at Brooke Army Medical Center, the right to be an American took more than a decade to earn... MORE

Spec. Diego Timoteo (right), an Army Combat Medic at Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, checks an incoming patient at BAMC’s drive-through COVID-19 testing area. Timoteo, a native of Brazil, recently earned his American citizenship.

Serving our nation: the journey to citizenship
September 21, 2017 — The Department of Defense commemorated Constitution Day and Citizenship Day Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017 and will observe Constitution Week the week of Sept. 17 through Sept. 23... MORE

Airmen from the 344 Training Squadron display their immigration packet upon completing the Oath of Allegiance at JBSA-Lackland on Aug. 30.

Program helps trainees become citizens
December 22, 2016 — The wind was picking up and the temperature was colder than expected for a San Antonio morning as the basic military training retreat ceremony began Dec. 8, 2016, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland,... MORE

U.S. Air Force Trainee Rachid Karame, 321st Training Squadron, prepares to take the oath of citizenship at the basic military training retreat ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio - Lackland, Texas, Dec. 8, 2016. Trainee Karame and his family emigrated from Lebanon and have lived in the United States since 2012. During the ceremony, he becomes both a U.S. citizen and an Airman. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lieutenant Beau Downey)