FORT BENNING, Ga., (March 4, 2015) -- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services held a grand opening ceremony for the Naturalization Office on Fort Benning Feb. 26 and welcomed new citizens during a military naturalization ceremony in the 30th Adjutant General Battalion building on Sand Hill.
USCIS worldwide provides an expedited naturalization process to non-citizen military service members. USCIS staff will deliver immediate immigration services to about 120 applicants each month at Fort Benning, said Lt. Col. David Welch, battalion commander for the 30th AG. The staff conducts interviews, submits background checks and administers the testing required for U.S. citizenship.
"From the earliest days of this project, Lt. Col. David Welch supported this partnership with true Army leadership and a can-do attitude and steadfast fortitude," said James McCament, deputy chief of staff, USCIS.
Welch said the mission to naturalize Soldiers before they go and fight for America's freedom held a special place in his heart. He said as a brigade S1 in Iraq, he saw Soldiers go through the 10-month process of becoming a naturalized citizen, but he also saw Soldiers get killed before the process was complete.
"Once I found out we could do the process in 10 weeks here, I felt it was my duty to make sure it happened here to relieve the burden off the operating force, so you didn't have a (Soldier) that could potentially deploy and be killed in combat and not be a U.S. citizen," Welch said.
A total of 19 Soldiers were made American citizens during the naturalization ceremony, coming from nine different areas, including Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the Federated States of Micronesia.
"We recognize the sacrifices that you and your Families have made to this nation, (through) the highest level of service while you were not even a citizen," said Paul Onyango, chief of staff for the USCIS Atlanta district office. "This is a day when you can proudly say that you are American citizens. I share this exceeding joy with you, as a naturalized citizen who came to this country."
Spc. Martin Potter, 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment, Maryland Army National Guard, and a former citizen of the United Kingdom, was honored to finally be a U.S. citizen and to have "turned blue" and earned his Infantry cord, he said.
Potter came to the United States 16 months prior to his naturalization, and chose to join the Army National Guard after five months on U.S. soil.
"I wanted to give something back to America," Potter said. "America gave me an opportunity to come here and I married an American woman, so I wanted to show my kind of thanks and loyalty to the country by serving in any way I could to America."
Potter also said his two brothers were members of the British Armed Forces and they were a big influence as to why he chose to serve in America.
"I'm just so proud of him today and all that he has accomplished," his wife Brittany Potter said. "I'm proud to say that he's not just my husband now, but also a fellow United States citizen."
Citizenship and Immigration Services
Phone: 706-545-3281 and 706-545-3282.
Address: 30th Adjutant General Battalion (Reception), 5305 3rd Infantry Division Road, Building 3010, Sand Hill, Fort Benning, GA, 31905.
Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
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