United States Armed Forces Lieutenant Colonel, Marisol Chalaswill be the first woman of Dominican origin to command the PRFTA Military Training Base, Camp, Parks.
Chalas, who is Dominican-American, born in Baní, was also at the time the first latin woman in piloting a “Black Hawk” combat helicopter.
This successful Dominican-American among the North American military ranks managed, through her professional skills, training, responsibility in the service and other accumulated merits, to be taken into account for other functions, in this case, being responsible for a training center.
At the base, the "finishing touches" to receive its new commander in an official ceremony, who since his appointment has held meetings with high command and superiors, in the joint coordination for the act that takes place at the end of May.
PRFTA, popularly known as "Camp Parks"located in California, ranks #2 in importance of military bases in Alameda County since 1942 when it began operations. Members of the United States Army Reserve receive training there, those who train for emergencies such as natural disasters and wars as well.
Camp Parks, which will now rest on the shoulders of Lieutenant Colonel Marisol Chalas after the start of World War II, was originally established on a memorable November 26, 1942, when the United States Navy decided have a replacement and recovery center on the west coast of the country for naval construction battalions returning from abroad.
Its name honors Rear Admiral Charles W. Parks, Corps of Civil Engineers (CEC), the head of the World War I Bureau of Shipyards and Docks.
Prior to her promotion, Chalan served as director of the US Army Fort Knox Reserve Schools.
Chalas dedicates her military achievements to the United States and the Dominican Republic, as well as to her superiors who trained her in the race. She is proud to be born in the Peravia province, she has received numerous awards in the country and her native Baní de Ella.
Among these, she received the Medal of Merit for Women in the category of Outstanding Woman Abroad, from the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, while the country’s Senate also presented an award. among innumerable awards received within the Caribbean country and in the United States and also in the academic order.
She replaces the prominent Colonel Serena Johnson, the first African American to hold the position.
About Lieutenant Colonel Marisol Chalas:
Marisol Chalas left Baní when she was nine years old for Massachusetts, United States, in 1982. She enlisted in the National Guard during high school and was commissioned as a pilot officer in 2001 and later trained as the first Latina fighter pilot of a Black Hawk of the total of the 4 percent who achieve the feat.
Chalas earned a bachelor’s degree in maritime engineering from the Massachusetts Military Maritime Academy and an MBA from J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. He served as a frontline captain and platoon leader in Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as other operations.
First in her class at the US Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, she won more than a dozen awards, including “Advanced Airman Pilot,” among other achievements in her successful military career, such as for future generations.