'Vital to National Interest': Navy Immigrant Recruits Naturalized at Boot Camp

July 23, 2010— -- Abdisalam Omar of Somalia and Samuel Njuguna of Kenya came to the United States four years ago as aspiring college students.

Omar, who received a basketball scholarship, studied finance and accounting and dreamed of uniting with his family in France and finding a job in business. Njuguna, a college newspaper writer and yearbook editor, studied communications and wants to become a diplomat.

But after graduating with their bachelor's degrees from a Missouri college this spring, the duo made a decision few immigrants without U.S. green cards have ever made before: enlist in the U.S. Navy and obtain citizenship in the process.

"The possibility of being associated with the Navy SEALS got me excited," said Omar. Being a sailor seemed to "apply more to my life and what I want to do with my life than business would."

"I saw this as an opportunity to use my knowledge to support a noble mission," said Njuguna, who often enjoyed educating fellow college students about African culture and politics. "I know the U.S. military is very helpful around the world and Kenya has benefitted from what the military is doing."

Omar and Njuguna, who have completed boot camp at a Naval training facility outside of Chicago, will today take an oath of American allegiance with three other recruits, two from Nepal and one from Kenya. They are ultimately headed to San Diego, California, where they will join the military's ranks as linguists with the Navy SEALS.

"I'm not going to be a Navy SEAL," said Omar, "but I'm going to be working with them and helping them build positive relationships with wherever my regional and linguistic expertise comes into play."

The ceremony marks the first time non-citizen Naval recruits will be naturalized directly out of basic training, reflecting a Pentagon effort to recruit and enlist more immigrant sailors with special skills vital to the U.S. military's missions around the world.

"These sailors are already eligible for their own citizenship just by meeting the requirements of the (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) USCIS," said Lt. Vince Dasta, citizenship coordinator at the Navy's Recruit Training Command. But "by taking an expedited process, we're able to help these guys hit the fleet sooner and focus on their mission. A citizen is much more worldwide deployable than a non-citizen."