Warrior of the Week

Courageous. Focused. Strong.

Those are some of the words that have been used to describe this week’s Warrior of the Week: Private First Class Antonio Dominguez.

Central Regional’s 21-year-old PFC Dominguez is a part of the Army infantry.

Tina Dominguez, his mother, said that she nominated PFC Dominguez as a “warrior” because of the pride she has in her son’s accomplishments.

PFC Dominguez graduated Central Regional High School in 2011, and enlisted in the Army that next year.

He did so well in boot camp that he was chosen to go to the 10^th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York, said Dominguez.

This camp is based 30 miles south of Canada, and trains there with other deployable infantry soldiers.

PFC Dominguez was deployed for the first time in November 2013.

This 10-month deployment in Afghanistan involves a high Taliban retaliation, and he can only contact his family every few days, said Dominguez.

His battalion is ground foot patrol, where they are the first people to find the Taliban.

His mother said that she sends care packages every week to his base.

“Some people don’t recognize the sacrifice they and their families make through all of this,” said Dominguez.

His family was also a big influence on why he joined the military, Dominguez said.

PFC Dominguez’s father’s side is from Cuba, and he would listen to his grandfather’s stories of living with communism.

He wanted to make sure that his family did not ever have to go through the same thing, said Dominguez.

PFC Dominguez plans to move up the ranks and make the military his career.

“There was a powerful reason behind it,” said Dominguez. “He joined from his heart.”