CARLSBAD — The Army and Navy Academy received a much-needed facelift thanks to an alumnus who organized a collaboration between the San Diego Job Corps and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades to do the job.
Herman Becario, a 1986 graduate of the Army and Navy Academy, organized the efforts.
For the last eight years, Herman Becario, a 1986 graduate of the Army and Navy Academy, has returned to campus with a small group of other graduates from between 1983 to 1987. Over time, Becario noticed that some areas of the campus – like the beachfront recreation hall – needed to be repaired and beautified.
“I love my school, it’s a big part of who I am,” Becario said. “When I go out, I wear my ANA shirts and people come up to me all the time to tell me they went to the school or had a family member who did. I love making that connection.”
Becario is an 18-year business agent with the Union of Painters and Allied Trade, District Council 36. The international trade union is a leading labor resource for paint, drywall, flooring, glazing, tradeshow and sign and display. The union offers training and apprenticeships including a collaboration with the San Diego Job Corps that provides pre-apprenticeships for youths between the ages of 16 and 24.
“Our organization does things like this in the community pretty often and we are always looking for good projects,” Becario said. “When I told my colleagues about ANA, its history, and how the school helped me become who I am, they loved the idea of doing restoration at the academy.”
Three women who are members of the Job Corps’ pre-apprenticeship program along with painting instructor, Ceasar Zepeda, were recently on campus stripping and painting exterior areas of the recreation hall, which had been damaged from years of exposure to salty air and intense sun rays.
The women have already completed more than 50% of the required certifications for their pre-apprenticeship program. When they graduate, they will receive their IUPAT pre-apprenticeship program certificate, enabling them to join the union as painter apprentices in a four-year program.
“Seeing our graduates selflessly paying it forward by giving back to the academy is the best testament to what our academy has done in developing young men of character and virtue for over 113 years,” said Academy President and retired Major General Peggy Combs. “Our purpose is not only to prepare our young men academically, but to develop them into selfless servant leaders who contribute to the betterment of our society and our world. We are exceptionally proud of Herman and all our alumni.”