Fort Meade, MD --
It’s 7 a.m. and Staff Sgt. Ma Antonette Cabantog has a case of the nerves as she walks into her new workplace. Her office: the Belle Chance, a 106-year-old Spanish Colonial Revival-style home, is nestled in the woods, 1,200 feet from the runway at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. She sets down her phone, bible and backpack in the kitchen and makes her way to the foyer. On the side table in front of her is a lone open green book. She takes a deep breath, looks down and reads, “Great job!!!!”
“Four exclamation points,” Cabantog thinks to herself as she smiles and sighs, “What a relief.”
Her boss and current Belle Chance resident, Lt. Gen. Stayce Harris told her the previous night that, “Everything is amazing,” during a CV Bundle reception for 25 vice commanders of Air Force’s major commands, but seeing it in writing was special.
As Harris’ enlisted aide, Cabantog was responsible for planning, prepping, managing and catering the entire event. Normally quiet and reserved, Cabantog took charge with a smile despite the pressure. She finds great personal fulfillment in serving others, but the handwritten personal note in their pass-on book provided not only relief, but also pride. Her first big task as an enlisted aide had been a success.
As the pressure of the previous night faded away, she read the rest of day’s notes and began her workday in the empty estate. Although alone, she smiled, amazed at just how far she’s come in the last 10 years.
Yet, Cabantog’s unique journey to the Air Force had begun on a bus taking her in the opposite direction of her dreams.
As a young songstress from the rural outskirts of the mountain province of Sariaya, Philippines, Cabantog was cast to showcase her talents as a singer and actress for a major TV production being filmed in Manila, a four-hour bus ride away from her town. She and her mother arrived only to find the producers had cancelled the day’s taping because the program’s stars were not to be found.
Disappointed, they boarded a bus for the return trip to Siriaya. Two hours away from the studio, they received a phone call that the stars had turned up and taping was about to begin, but there was no way to turn the bus around; the part was given to another actress.
“At 11 years old, I was devastated,” Cabantog said, “It was a quiet ride home for my mother and I.”
It was at this point she vowed to never miss another chance to change her life.
Cabantog went back to what she calls the “simple life,” singing in her church, enjoying sleepovers with her girlfriends and playing soldier in the streets with the neighborhood boys. Her grandparents raised her when her mother had to take work abroad. As she absorbed her grandfather’s life lessons and principles of hard work, family values and dedication; she still dreamed of greatness, only wanting a chance.
Years later, her mother married U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Vic Florece. Soon they moved to Florece’s new duty station: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. After 16 years of living with her grandparents, Cabantog was reunited with her mother in a strange new land and resumed her education as a senior at Bethel High School. It was a difficult transition; she knew no one and had a hard time expressing herself in English.
“I stayed quiet and to myself, high school kids are mean and they often made fun of the way I pronounced words,” Cabantog said. However, behind the subdued façade, Cabantog was busy studying her classmates. … She would practice her speech alone, until her accent faded, preparing herself for any role in a new world of opportunity.
After high school, she wanted to study culinary arts and become a chef. Her stepfather encouraged her to join the Air Force knowing there was a career and a future in food services.
“He saw the potential in me,” she said. “I wanted to join the Army, like him, but he convinced me the Air Force had much better food.”
In November 2008, Cabantog enlisted into the Air Force as a food services apprentice.
“Basic training was an absolute blur, I kept quiet the whole time,” Cabantog said. However, one thing made a solid impression on her. “The Airmen in basic were way more accepting and inviting. Unlike high school, I felt more comfortable.”
Her first assignment was Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, in 2009. Motivated and goal-orientated, Cabantog formulated a path for success: finish career development courses on time, volunteer in the community and become a citizen of the United States. However her ambitious journey began with some humble first steps; like pulling the guts out of some chickens.
She began her career in the base dining facility. During her first night of work, a fellow Airmen taught her one of the primary brushstrokes of the culinary arts; how to clean poultry.
“It was really gross and oddly therapeutic at the same time,” Cabantog said. “He showed me the proper way to prepare and cut up a chicken. A memory I’ll never forget.”
Then, in an unexpected turn of events, she was called into the military personnel flight to complete her citizenship application and informed she was selected to be administered the oath of allegiance personally by the commander in chief, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I couldn’t sleep the night before because of excitement,” she said. “I’d waited a long time for that moment.”
On April 23, 2010, at the White House Rose Garden, President Barack Obama granted Cabantog and 22 other service members their citizenship.
Citizenship provided Cabantog new opportunities for advancement, including a security clearance, the ability to receive a passport and most importantly to her, the option to re-enlist.
“I wanted to continue the journey, I’ve worked hard and come so far in just a couple years,” Cabantog recounted. “I knew at that point I wanted to serve for as long as I could.”
For the next three years, Cabantog completed two more duty assignments. First up was for a yearlong short-duty-tour in lodging services at Kunsan Air Base, Korea, a seeming diversion from her path, that she treated as a chance to learn. Then she was off to Ramstein AB, Germany, and a return to dining services as a supervisor and shift leader. She worked 12-hour night shifts with a four-person team, preparing breakfast and lunch for nearly 300 Airmen each day.
“I’ve worked night shifts most of my career, I think they took advantage of me being single,” Cabantog said jokingly. “Honestly it taught me to be flexible and I learned how to better take care of Airmen.
“Every unit I’ve been in, they have always set me up for success. It’s the little things your leaders notice you do that encourages me to do better,” she said. “I believe that’s why I was selected to work in the Office of the Secretary of Defense Mess.”
Cabantog applied, interviewed and was selected for her first special duty assignment; she was headed to the Pentagon.
The OSD Mess provides meals and services to the secretary of defense, then Ash Carter, and his staff, so they can dine and conduct official business or host dignitaries in a private and secure area.
“It was nerve-racking, you just want to be as professional as possible. You know they are very important people, but you too are there for a reason, you do your job and be good at it,” Cabantog said of her time with the OSD Mess.
For Cabantog it was humbling, some days she felt like she was just pushing around a coffee cart, but she reminded herself that she was at the Pentagon, supporting a cabinet member with a direct line to the president.
“I didn’t have a big role, but I was a part of the big picture,” Cabantog said. “Appreciation of your role is what makes the machine work.”
Cabantog was the only Air Force member of the OSD Mess team supporting the secretary of defense, but she again used her exposure to the different personalities, cultures and backgrounds as ingredients she could add to her existing recipe for success. She viewed the posting as an opportunity to become a better follower and open her mind to the diverse thinking and operating styles of the other military services.
She said she believes her time supporting Carter put her on a bus heading, this time, toward her dreams. For the first time in her career, she felt comfortable being herself and unleashing her true potential. She was ready for her next role and applied to be an enlisted aide.
Harris, assistant vice chief of staff and director of Air Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force in Washington D.C., chose Cabantog for her first assignment.
“It was her enthusiasm, energy and positive attitude,” Harris said of selecting Cabantog as her first enlisted aide.
Cabantog’s duties include household management, planning of official social events, maintaining the general officer’s uniforms, shopping, daily meal planning and her passion for cooking and the culinary arts, the love of which brought her into the Air Force in the first place. For Cabantog, the callback for this role was a dream come true.
As an aide, Cabantog works in a premier voluntary special duty assignment available to only 75 Airmen. All enlisted aides are handpicked for the positions through an extensive screening process. Each aide is assigned to a specific general officer, mostly at the major and lieutenant general ranks, relieving the officers of tasks and details which would draw the officer’s attention away from their primary duties.
“A lot of people don’t see the impact, they think you just cook and clean. People question the role. I know enlisted aides have an impact on the general officer’s life. We make sure everyday normal life stressors do not affect their decision making,” Cabantog said.
The professional working relationship between Cabantog and Harris is only a few months old, but already Cabantog understands communication and trust are the keys to the job.
“She is a dedicated person; service before self. Work comes first and that’s when I come into play; if I take care of everything at home, she can take care of the mission,” Cabantog said of Harris.
On a normal day, the two of them rarely see much of each other, correspondence is kept through their pass-on book, notes are written, tasks are outlined and appreciations are shared.
“She’s an amazing cook,” Harris said of her impression of Cabantog during the CV bundle reception, “The attendees absolutely raved about the meal prep and enjoyed every item prepared!
“It was an incredible relief to return home to find that all the preparation for and execution of my reception were all taken care of with meticulous detail,” Harris continued. “I thanked her immensely for the preparation and flawless execution of the event.”
With one event down and many more to come, Cabantog is excited for her future. She loves her role as an enlisted aide and enjoys her chance to be creative in the kitchen, but most importantly she enjoys taking care of her new boss. Not surprisingly, Cabantog looks forward to the day she will have Airman to supervise, inspire and mentor upon her return to food services from her special duty. Her advice: “Trust in yourself and trust the process,” she said. “You never know, the next opportunity may change your life.”
