Opinion: My Filipino American family has deep military roots
Imbat is a U.S. Navy veteran and a Hoover Institute Veteran Fellow at Stanford University. He lives in Chula Vista.
My parents were first-generation Filipino Americans. Dad worked as a civilian for the Navy in Guam and was eligible for the U.S. military draft because the Philippines became a U.S. commonwealth in 1935.
The U.S. Army eventually called his draft number and dad served for 11 years active and reserve duty, mostly in Europe, before opting for college and a fresh start in Northern California as a newly naturalized U.S. citizen.
Mom’s dad, my grandfather, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in the Philippines and served for 10 years before moving the entire family of 10 to San Jose in the early 1960s. Coming from a family of veterans who earned their U.S. citizenship through the armed services made it natural for me to follow in their footsteps and join the military. Graduating high school in 1987, I was influenced by the movie “Top Gun” to give the Navy a try. I was fortunate to earn an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and attend flight school in Pensacola following graduation. I flew as a search and rescue helicopter pilot for the first half of my Navy career before the events of 9/11 unfolded.
On the morning of 9/11, my wife and I awoke as news broke of the first airplane hitting the north tower of the World Trade Center. As we turned the TV on, eyes glued to the screen, we watched in horror as the second plane hit the south tower. That day changed our lives forever and recharted my entire Navy career. Shortly after 9/11, I found myself deployed on the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis bound for the Middle East as we participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, providing close air support to the soldiers, sailors, and members of the Air Force and Marines fighting in Afghanistan.
Returning home some seven months later, my next set of orders would take me to Naval Special Warfare and the San Diego-based SEAL Teams. It was with the SEAL Teams and the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 that Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or drones, began their rapid proliferation in the Department of Defense. This new technology changed my entire aviation career path. I would spend another eight years inside Naval Special Warfare, Special Operations and the SEAL Teams building a world-class drone organization from the ground up, recruiting the Navy’s best sailors and procuring the industry’s best unmanned aircraft.
Today, I continue my career in the booming drone industry as a business development executive supporting the same Navy and Special Operations Forces where I forged my unmanned systems career after 9/11. Last year, I expanded into the artificial intelligence space, working on AI pilots that enable drones to perceive their environments and dynamically read and react on their own.
This pivot led me to the Hoover Institute Veterans Fellow Program, where, over the last year, I have been focusing on artificial intelligence for strategic deterrence. Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in the future of armed conflict and it is a privilege to continue supporting our armed services as this technology matures. AI technologies present an incredible opportunity for our future armed forces veterans, and it is especially meaningful for me to be a part of it with the Navy and SEAL Teams based here in San Diego.
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