{"id":386107,"date":"2023-02-27T06:06:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T20:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=386107"},"modified":"2023-02-27T06:06:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-26T20:06:55","slug":"air-force-pilots-and-cousins-recall-journey-from-uog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/air-force-pilots-and-cousins-recall-journey-from-uog\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force pilots and cousins recall journey from UOG"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Air Force Capt. Celestino \u201cTorch\u201d Aguon, left, and his cousin, Capt. Dustin Quinn Alger, graduated from the University of Guam in 2011 with honors. Aguon flies an F-15 fighter jet while Alger flies a KC-135 Stratotanker, a refueling plane. They are seen on Feb. 22, 2023, on Andersen Air Force Base while participating in the multinational Cope North exercise.\u00a0(STAFF SGT. DIVINE COX, 36TH WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two University of Guam alumni fly for their jobs\u2014at an altitude of tens of thousands of feet.<\/p>\n

As pilots in the U.S. Air Force, they share the skies, familial ties as cousins, and a history of having earned degrees at UOG in the same year\u2014both with honors\u2014in 2011.<\/p>\n

Capt. Celestino \u201cTorch\u201d Aguon flies an F-15 Eagle fighter jet, while his cousin, Capt. Dustin Quinn Alger, flies a KC-135 Stratotanker.<\/p>\n

Stationed in Okinawa, the cousins are on island this month for the Cope North military exercise hosted by Andersen Air Force Base. The exercise involves the United States, Japan, and Australia.<\/p>\n

There have been times when Alger\u2019s KC-135 would refuel Aguon\u2019s F-15 at 30,000 feet.\u00a0When the two pilots are in refueling mode, there would be a \u201chafa adai\u201d and other Guam-unique chatter, they said, laughing.<\/p>\n

And there were also times they\u2019ve flown over Guam and seen not just the island but their alma mater from the air.\u00a0That feeling of seeing tiny Guam\u2014and even tinier UOG\u2014\u201cIt just connects you more\u2014it never gets old,\u201d said Alger.<\/p>\n

Paths to becoming pilots\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Aguon graduated cum laude with a bachelor\u2019s degree in mathematics at UOG. He entered UOG as a merit scholar from George Washington High School.<\/p>\n

Alger graduated magna cum laude with a business administration degree specializing in finance and economics and is a graduate of Simon Sanchez High School.<\/p>\n

Their UOG degrees and honors, along with their other accomplishments, opened separate paths for them to qualify for Air Force Officer Training School and ultimately meet the rigorous training to be pilots.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime\u00a0management, study habits and problem-solving are the main lessons learned from my education at UOG,\u201d said Aguon. \u201cI remember being in the late Dr. Lynn Raulerson’s Biology 101 Class my freshman year. She was someone who upheld the standard. I remember scoring a \u2018C\u2019 on my first major quiz, and that was a huge wake-up call for me after graduating from GWHS in 2006 in the Top 10. I went on to finish her first and second-semester biology courses with an \u2018A.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0Her honest and blunt feedback has repeatedly resonated with me throughout my entire aviation career.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to giving credit to his UOG degree to get into the officer training school, Alger looks to Aguon as a mentor who gave him the idea to apply for a pilot slot in the Air Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn’t until I was looking for opportunities to commission when the pilot kind of career came into my mind\u2014and then actually got in contact with this guy,\u201d said Alger.<\/p>\n

Both also credit their respective families\u2019 support.<\/p>\n

Family support crucial\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to applying to be a pilot, Aguon took flight training with private instructors to build his experience. His parents, Tino and Alicia Aguon, took out a home equity line of credit to support his aspirations. \u201cIt\u00a0was a huge risk on their part in hindsight,\u201d Aguon said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Alicia Aguon is the dean of the School of Education at UOG, who, along with her husband, encouraged their son to pursue a STEM-related degree.<\/p>\n

“Our local public and private school students and our UOG graduates\u2014they can compete with anyone and achieve their goals,” Dr. Alicia Aguon said.<\/p>\n

Alger also expresses gratitude to his parents, Doris Atalig Leon Guerrero and Paul Alger. His mother served in the Air Force in the medical field, and was last stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, until her recent retirement.<\/p>\n

Both pilots give their solid foundation from home\u2014doing chores, focusing on getting a degree, keeping a good work ethic, and aiming for something big career-wise\u2014as part of their successes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom \u2026 my dad, from a young age, they tell me: \u2018Always study, do the chores’ …[They were] teaching the foundation and values that carry throughout life,\u201d Alger said.<\/p>\n

As pilots, they need to have a clear mind while performing their jobs in the air, and the support from their spouses and inspiration from their young children is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the never-ending support from my wife, Tonilynn, and son,\u00a0Celestino\u00a0Ace, drastically reduces the stress associated with our line of work, and gives me the motivation to do my best,\u201d Aguon said.<\/p>\n

Alger also said he draws his strength from his wife, Christina, and daughter, Liv, who keep up with the challenges of being a military family, including having to move around.<\/p>\n

The lessons from UOG and the life lessons they picked up over the years have all combined for the two cousins to achieve their career goals even when challenges came up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are times when you get knocked down, but the thing is, you learn from it; you get back up and you just try again,\u201d Alger said.<\/p>\n

Aguon said focusing on finding solutions instead of getting stuck on setbacks can help people get through.<\/p>\n

UOG offers advantages\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

He said UOG offers the advantage of not having to leave home and not having to worry about the high cost of college expenses with colleges beyond Guam.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttending the University of Guam is great since the cost of education is more affordable in relation to other stateside schools. I remember feeling the pressure to attend an off-island university, which would make sense if I was looking to pursue a degree that isn’t offered at UOG. However, as a former merit scholar, I’m relieved that I didn’t finish college with an exorbitant amount of debt and was still able to achieve my overall goal,\u201d Aguon said.<\/p>\n

For Alger, the UOG education he received is a takeoff point for more opportunities to pursue. \u201cTake everything you learn from UOG, apply it to your daily life, but also realize, like don’t close off opportunities because you never know what pops up.\u201d(PR)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two University of Guam alumni fly for their jobs\u2014at an altitude of tens of thousands…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":386109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[418,445],"class_list":["post-386107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-air-force","tag-uog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}