Joseph B. Aviles Sr. (February 3, 1897 – February 22, 1990), served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and later in the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

. On September 28, 1925, Aviles became the first

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Chief Petty Officer in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. During World War II he received a war-time promotion to Chief Warrant Officer, becoming the first Hispanic to reach that level as well.site United States Coast Guard-Hispanic Americans Chronology
/ref>

Early life and education

Aviles was born José Blas Avilés in a farm near the town of

Naranjito, Puerto Rico Naranjito (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the central region of the island, south of Toa Alta; north of Barranquitas and Comerío; east of Corozal; and west of Bayamón. Naranjito is spread over 7 barrios and Naran ...

, when the island was still a

Spanish colony The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

. He was a native inhabitant of Puerto Rico and a Spanish subject, though not of the Peninsula (Spain). He was residing in the island on April 11, 1899, the date of the proclamation of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 which ceded the island to the United States. One of the conditions of the treaty was the transfer by cession of the allegiance of the islanders to the United States. In 1907, at the age of 10, Avilés was placed in the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin orphanage, at Mount Loretto,

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

.The Mission of the Immaculate Virgin was founded in 1871 by Father John Christopher Drumgoole, and is the largest childcare institution in the United States. Se
The History of the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin at Mount Loretto
. There he received his primary and secondary education and participated in the institution's cadet program, thus his fascination with military life at a young age.

Career

Avilés joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in 1915 and served seven years and eight months, eventually reaching the rank of

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

gunner's mate The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" scho ...

. During the years that he served in the U.S. Navy, the United States Congress passed the Jones-Shafroth Act (1917) which conferred

United States citizenship Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

on all citizens of Puerto Rico. On September 28, 1925, he entered the

with the rank of chief gunner's mate and served for two years before re-enlisting on September 11, 1928. That same year he met and married Florence Powell, adopting her son Harvey from a previous marriage. During the time that he served in the Coast Guard, Avilés became the first

Hispanic-American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify as ...

to be advanced to

chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi� ...

and later to warrant officer, on March 27, 1943. Upon the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Avilés received a war-time promotion to

Chief Warrant Officer Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces, the Pakistan Air Force, the Israel Defense Forces, the South African National Defence Force, the Lebanese Armed Forces and, since 2012, th ...

(November 27, 1944), thus becoming the first Hispanic American to reach that level as well. The Chief Warrant Officers in the Coast Guard may be found in command of larger "small-boat" stations and patrol boats, as specialists and supervisors in other technical areas, and as special agents in the

Coast Guard Investigative Service The Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) is a division of the United States Coast Guard that investigates crimes where the U.S. Coast Guard has an interest. It is composed of civilian ( GS-1811), active duty, reserve enlisted, and warrant offic ...

(CGIS). They wear insignia essentially like that of their U.S. Navy counterparts, but add the USCG shield between the rank insignia and the specialty mark, as Coast Guard commissioned officers do with their rank insignia. Like their U.S. Navy counterparts, candidates for the rank of chief warrant officer must typically be serving in the chief petty officer rates, however, the U.S. Coast Guard also permits selection of petty officer first class in the top 50% of the advancement list to chief petty officer. Like the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard also does not use the rank of Warrant Officer (WO1). Aviles spent most of the World War II years training recruits at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Station (where

Flagler College Flagler College is a private liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida. It was founded in 1968 and offers 33 undergraduate majors and one master's program. It also has a campus in Tallahassee. History Founded in 1968, the campus compri ...

is now located) in St. Augustine, Florida.

Later life and death

Avilés retired from the U.S. Coast Guard on July 27, 1946, and worked as a security guard at a hospital in Baltimore until 1962, when he retired at the age of 65. Aviles died at his residence in

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

, on February 22, 1990. He was buried with full military honors in Plot D O 2220A of the Baltimore National Cemetery at

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

. He was survived by four of his five children, Joseph B. Aviles Jr.(deceased), a nuclear physicist at the Nucleonics Division, United States Naval Research Laboratory,Separation of the center-of-mass in independent particle systems
/ref> Raymond (now deceased), Frank (now deceased), Alice and by his stepson Harvey Aviles (deceased), a graduate of the USCG Academy who also served in World War II. The Fast Response Cutter and Engineering Building at the United States Coast Guard Station San Juan was posthumously named after CWO-2 Joseph B. Aviles Sr.

Decorations

Joseph B. Aviles Sr.' ribbon bar included :

Early life and education

Career

Later life and death

Decorations

See also

References

Further reading