Argentina native sets sights on AF Academy

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WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (ACCNS) --   While growing up in Buenos Aires Argentina, Airman 1st Class Nick Velati and his friends would often talk about what they wanted to be.

Airman Velatis answer? Ingeniero aeronautico (aeronautical engineer). Maybe.

In a country suffering from inflation and a spiraling economy, hopes for a better life fell with an uncertain job market.

In a room he shared with two sisters, he spent hours at a desk reading stacks of Popular Science magazines and computer printouts about propulsion systems, future space missions and biographies of astronauts.

I just always knew I wanted to be an engineer, said Airman Velati, 21. I always had a passion for math and physics. It was my ultimate dream.

After graduating from Rivadavia High School in 2000, he had few options to study aeronautical engineering. He would have to travel to the Balseiro Institute in the southern region of Argentina, the only school that had aeronautical engineering on its curriculum.

But he wouldnt take that route. His parents, weary of the turmoil in their native country, made a difficult decision: to return to the United States, where they had lived previously before returning to Argentina to be close to family.

Airman Velati left his friends and extended family again. Without citizenship, much experience or an education, his goal of working in aeronautical engineering faded. At 19 and living in Encinitas, Calif., he worked two jobs as an office assistant while taking part-time classes.

I felt like I didnt have enough time or money to pursue my goals, he said.

Thats when he enlisted in the Air Force in May 2001 and attended basic training the following August.

He received a job as a data systems analyst. After arriving at Whiteman in February 2002, he was named the 509th Maintenance Groups Airman of the Year.

He has a determination to get things done, said his supervisor, Senior Airman Jamey Ballew, 509th Maintenance Operations Squadron.

Airman Velati sent a student application letter to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., last February.

My parents told me if you have the capability to do something you should do everything in your power to obtain your goals, said Airman Velati, who became a U.S. citizen in March 2003.

His determination paid off recently with his selection to attend the Air Force Academys preparatory school.

I think its a tremendous opportunity, Airman Velati said of attending the Academy. I see it as a very challenging place to get your education.

Airman Velati will soon leave to attend the Academys preparatory school before beginning four years of life as a cadet. Maybe someday, he can travel back to Argentina, and tell his old friends, I made it.