Captain (CPT) Velez received her commission into the Army in October 2007. She received a direct commission as a Medical Service Corp Officer, and later became an Environmental Science Engineering Officer. Her first duty stationed was with the 705th Military Police Battalion at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with which she deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from August 2009 to August 2010. On her return from Iraq, CPT Velez was assigned to the 21st Theater Sustainment Command in Kaiserslautern, Germany for two years, and then to the Army Public Health Command Europe in Landstuhl, Germany. She earned a coveted one-year “Training with Industry” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in Livermore, California, from 2013 to 2014. After the training, she was assigned to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Aberdeen, Maryland. She medically retired due to injury in January 2017. In her 9-year career, CPT Velez earned two Meritorious Service Medals, four Army Commendations Medals, one Army Achievement Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon with two numeral devise, and the Iraq Campaign medal with one Campaign Star.
CPT Velez was nominated by NFM Lending Branch Manager, Jennifer Cook.

“I have known Omayra for several years,” said Cook. “When I first met her, she was active duty. She recently retired from service, and I wanted to recognize Omayra for her many years of service and being a loyal client of NFM Lending. Congrats Omayra! It’s always a pleasure working with you.”

Omayra chose Platoon 22 to receive the donation made by NFM Salute on her behalf.