General proud of Native-American heritage

  • Published
  • By Rudi Williams
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  When Brig. Gen. LaRita Aragon was growing up in Dale, Okla. -- population about 300 -- in the '50s, '60s and '70s, being an American Indian was not in vogue.

But Aragon was never discriminated against because her "Indianness" was not conspicuous.

"My great-grandparents chose not to be identified through four generations of marriages with Irish, Russian, German and British," Aragon said. She is the assistant adjutant general of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and ANG assistant to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial management here. "I came out a green-eyed, dark-haired, skinny little girl. I'm no longer dark-haired and certainly not skinny.

"I was taught respect for elders, leaders and our land, but not for my Native (American) heritage," she said.

"When I entered the military 26 years ago, I made a conscious decision to declare my native heritage," said Aragon, the first woman-American-Indian general in the military and the first woman commander in the Oklahoma ANG. "I, along with my sister and three aunts, have researched our genealogy."

What they found was that they are of Cherokee and Choctaw descent. Her father, Rhoper Bly, is part Choctaw. Born in Pueblo, Colo., he retired after 38 years in the maintenance department at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Her Cherokee mother, Jimmie Bly, a native of Guinn, Ala., retired from Tinker as an aircraft inspector.

"My great-great-grandparents refused to give up their property to place themselves on the rolls as American Indians," Aragon said. "Therefore, I don't have a Bureau of Indian Affairs card, nor have I been able to acquire one."

The military's attitude toward Indians and women proved much different from societal attitudes and behaviors, Aragon said. She said being a woman has never kept her from being promoted in the military, and her heritage was viewed as a plus.

"I believe that the military is one of the greatest leveling fields for equality that there is," she said.

At the age of 30, Aragon enlisted in the Oklahoma ANG and became a draftsman apprentice with the 219th Engineering Installation Squadron in Oklahoma City. At the time, she had a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in guidance and counseling, but she did not apply for a commission.

But there was a method to her madness.

"In the Air National Guard, the vast majority of commissioned positions are attained by proving yourself in an enlisted position," Aragon said.

In setting the stage for her climb up the rungs of success, Aragon said she became a workaholic, taking every mission she could get from the engineering units. She also volunteered to serve on boards and for jobs no one else wanted to do.

"I built a reputation for getting the job done, and I had some great supporters in my squadron and in the wing," she said. "They gave me chances to train and be visible in mission assignments."

In the meantime, she said she interviewed for every officer position that came open in her unit.

"After two guys failed at the commissioning academy, I got a shot at a slot," Aragon said. "I'd applied three times, but did not give up my hope of being an officer."

She received her commission through the Academy of Military Science in Knoxville, Tenn., in October 1981. She returned to the 219th EIS as an administrative officer. In February 1989, Aragon assumed command of the 137th Services Flight at Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Okla.

Aragon taught kindergarten through seventh grade in her civilian life. She said she enlisted in the Guard originally for financial reasons.

"I was a single mother," Aragon said. "I couldn't get by financially without an additional income."

An elder in her church, who was a guardsman, suggested that she sign up.

"He assured me they would let me work when I was not teaching, and I could build a second career," Aragon said. "I fell in love with the people and the mission and found a whole new look at life. I immediately gained about 1,000 big brothers, who looked after my children and my welfare. They were there through every upturn and down and became an extended family I could lean on."

She was recognized as the Oklahoma Woman Veteran of the Year in 1998 by the War Veterans Commission of Oklahoma. She said she was honored for her role in taking 100 military women to the opening ceremonies of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Va. Aragon also helped raise more than $18,000 for the memorial in the name of the women who had served in the armed forces from Oklahoma.

"We were the only state to take a military group to march in the opening ceremonies," she said. "We were escorted in the grand opening ceremony by our adjutant general, the assistant adjutant general and the chief of staff of the Oklahoma Air National Guard."

Aragon said she also convinced state Sens. Enoch Kelly Haney and Kathleen Wilcoxson to participate in the memorial dedication.

The general said she never considered herself a "woman" soldier or airman, but became a "poster child" young female soldiers and airmen came to for advice and support. Retired and senior women veterans came to her when they needed help getting attention to issues, she said.

On her military success, Aragon said, "I was in the right place and the right time, and had great bosses that let me open some doors to 'diversity' in the Oklahoma Military Department."