Maj. Gen. Ken Nava, the Adjutant General of New Mexico who presided over the ceremony, gave thanks to Aranda for his tremendous contributions and to his family for their unwavering support. Nava called it a special, yet bittersweet day for the NMNG because Aranda has always been there us. He said Nick is one of those guys you can always count on, even as busy as he is with his civilian construction company. “We put him into his constructions expertise which aligns with his civilian company and he has done incredible things for the NMNG,” Nava said. “Nick, you have a level of expertise that is hard to match.” Nava awarded Aranda with an honorary brevet promotion to brigadier general. Aranda was also awarded the New Mexico Distinguished Service Medal, certificates of appreciation from Governor Susana Martinez and the Adjutant General as well as a certificate of service from the Chief of National Guard Bureau. Nava also presented him with his TAG coin for excellence and said Aranda would be receiving a Legion of Merit soon. A flag folding ceremony was performed in his honor for his 30 plus years of contributions to his state and country. His wife Debbie was presented a spouse certificate for her dedicated support of her husband’s service. “Debbie thought the Guard was only one weekend a month, he said jokingly, but it never really worked out that way… Still, not a day went by without Debbie’s unfaltering support while I was in the Guard and I thank you Debbie for that,” Aranda said of his service abroad in combat and stateside. The Aranda family presented their hero with a special Calvary officer saber signifying his incredible accomplishments while being deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF II) with the 1st Cavalry Division. After serving three years in the U.S. Air Force and coming home, Aranda said he liked the military so he decided to join the NMNG. He graduated Officer Candidate School in 1989, a place he says gave his graduating class strength and resiliency. While serving as company commander of the 642nd Maintenance Company in Las Cruces, he set up a special mission to support maintenance training operations with White Sands Missile Range. “It was hard to keep our maintenance folks productive in their MOS because we lacked equipment to maintain so we brainstormed and developed an MOU with WSMR to help maintain their backlog of equipment,” Aranda said. “It was win-win for both.” He later served as the executive officer of the 515th Corp Support Battalion and volunteered to deploy as the support operations officer for the 515th to Logistics Base Seitz, Baghdad in support of combat operations during OIF II in 2004. He was responsible for providing transportation, maintenance, supplies, and other support for over 40,000 Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Multi-National Coalition Forces in the Baghdad area of responsibilities where he earned the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge for his heroic action during combat operations and proudly wears the 1st CAV Division combat patch. Through his ingenuity, he designed and built a 2 million gallon bulk fuel site at Camp Victory after battles left the 1st CAV Division without fuel. “After 9-11, I think we all had a burning desire to support the United States in our effort to combat global terrorism, so I volunteered for OIF II with the 515th CSB,” Aranda said. “This would become one of the most trying times for Debbie, my children and myself. The fighting was fierce, the threat was frightening and ultimately, my family was concerned but we made it through the chaos and we came out stronger.” Aranda said that when they took over Log Base Seitz, his predecessor told him don’t forget there is 3 million gallons of fuel sitting in a bunker at Baghdad Airport. “So when the enemy blew up the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the CAV would run out of fuel in three days and could not maneuver,” Aranda said. “I told Chief Sanchez I wish there was a way to convert the jet fuel to JP8. He found some Navy guys in the green zone who had a conversion kit. We bought the jet fuel from the Iraqis, lined up 10k tankers at the bunker, the Navy guys added the additive and when the tankers drove away, it would swish up the mixture as it was delivered to fueling points for M1 Bradleys. We saved the CAV from running out of fuel. After that incident, we knew we had to find a way to convince the CAV command to build a fuel site and with Col. Rael’s blessing and help from 1st CAV engineers, we got it done.” Aranda said they experienced horrific events on Log Base Sietz to include 84 hits, 351 rounds, 454 attacks on our convoys and five killed in action. “We were very blessed that no one from the NMNG was killed or seriously injured,” he said. Col. Richard Rael, the 515th commander during OIF II, said it was a privilege to serve with Aranda at a heavy combat zone with missions that were tough beyond belief and not anything you could have prepared for. “We could have never served Marines, Soldiers, and Airmen without Nick’s ability to solve problems,” Rael said. “During April 2004, all of Bagdad was black, there was no fuel, and we were mortared daily. Nick, along with Chief Warrant Officers Don Sanchez and Bill Ward, built a 2 million gallon fuel tank because there was nowhere in Iraq at that time to get fuel. Due to Nick’s ingenuity, determination, and his ability to think, he had the foresight to get that done. Additionally, the Marines who had assaulted Fallujah would have not had water, food, or fuel without what Nick and support operations did.” “We went on convoys when they needed something delivered to someplace where there weren’t friendly forces and Nick would figure it out,” Rael said. “Be proud of this man; he is a true testament of a hero.” Aranda also led the NMNG advance party to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to support the humanitarian effort in 2005. He recalls watching the news with Deb on August 28, 2005, when Katrina was making landfall and telling her “wow, that storm looks massive – I hope the Louisiana National Guard is ready.” Aranda said not even 10 minutes had passed when then Col. Juan Griego called and asked if he could lead an advance party to New Orleans and I said Sir, let me talk to my wife. “I told her, you are not going to believe this, but Col. Griego just asked me to leave tomorrow to support the hurricane effort. What do you think?” Aranda said. “She said you went all the way to the other side of the planet to support Iraqi freedom and you are questioning whether you should support Americans? I called Col. Griego back and said, Sir, I’m in and off we went.” Aranda commented on how the people there were so appreciative of them being there to help and get them back on their feet. “It was there I saw something truly amazing as these people had lost so much and were totally lost in the process of reorganizing their lives,” Aranda said. “Gen. Judkins stepped in as the acting Mayor of Plaquemines Parish to guide all the agencies to when and what they needed to do. He jumpstarted their batteries and he was very successful in helping people reorganize their lives. It was truly humbling to be a part of that.” Judkins said that when he became the New Mexico task force commander for Katrina, it was a bit of pandemonium getting ready to go, but managed to get 412 Soldiers on an airplane to Plaquemines Parish where it was total devastation. “For whatever reason, my scheduled logistics officer didn’t get on the plane,” Judkins said. “When we arrived, I saw Nick and asked what do you do and I think he said engineering and logistics. I said congratulations, you are now the S4 of this task force.” Judkins, an artillery guy, said what began as a come as you are and figure out what needs to get fixed to include saving lives turned primarily into a logistics operation. “Next thing I know Nick has logistics support set up. He has FEMA trailers rolling for distributing water, food and all the classes of supply,” Judkins said. “I said wow, what a rock star as he just figured out the logistics needed for an area that had just been bashed by the hurricane on both sides of the peninsula, was under 14 feet of water and not a house left on a foundation. The people of Plaquemines Parish and I will be forever in your debt.” Aranda also spoke about serving at Camp Coyote, South Dakota, using our trucks to haul 491 cords of wood from the hills to a Native American Tribe to get them through a harsh winter. He also served on Border Security Operations in 2006. He has also served in many staff positions at company, battalion, division and JTFH levels. Throughout his career, Aranda said most of his assignments were with the FMO and is thankful to have worked with many talented people on some great projects. He last served as the senior engineer on the Joint Task Force Headquarters attached to the FMO. He was responsible for acquiring over $1 million dollars from NGB to develop energy conservation projects for armories throughout New Mexico. He recently led an effort to locate a training center on Kirtland AFB. He thanked ESGR and said his company, JTMS, employs a significant amount of guard and reserve soldiers who contribute to their success and encourages others to do the same. Aranda described being in the Guard as a lifetime process of learning. “I learned that even when I’m in charge, I may not be the smartest person in the room and I always depend on the collective wisdom of the team to make sound decisions to make sure our missions are accomplished,” he said. “I find ways to make things work even if it’s unconventional – something that happened a lot in Iraq. I learned how to face fear head-on, having treated wounded and dying Soldiers. I have been in war attacks and had a bullet flying by me, yet my biggest fear is sending a Troop behind the wire to accomplish the mission. I have learned great responsibility to my leaders, my peers and most importantly the Soldiers assigned to me. I take pride in the fact the being responsible has carried on to all aspects of my military career and family life. Lastly, I have learned how to be grateful for my wife, family, friends, fellow Soldiers. I’m grateful to be living in the greatest country on the planet and even more grateful to have the honor and experience of serving this amazing country. It has been an honor and privilege to serve with you.”
