Major General

SORIANO: "It's a significant responsibility. You're entrusted with the lives of the soldiers and their families. It takes dedication and hard work to succeed."

Joining the highest-ranking APAs in active-duty military service

BY AUTHOR BERT ELJERA

For someone who has seen first-hand the risks involved with service in the U.S. Armed Forces, it seems incredible that Edward Soriano would choose to pursue a military career. He was only about 7 years old when his father, Federico, was captured and taken as a prisoner-of-war by invading Communist troops during the Korean War.

The elder Soriano languished in a Communist prison for three years, while his family had to leave their home in Guam and return to the Philippines, where Edward was born, to await his return.

"Those were difficult times," said Encarnacion, Soriano's mother, now 79 years old and living in San Francisco. "I was always scared."

However, the family ordeal did not deter Soriano from dreaming that some day he'd wear the same uniform as his father. But never did he envision that he'd wear a star--much less two stars--on his military uniform.

Soriano was promoted in July to major general in the U.S. Army, and became the second-highest-ranking Asian Pacific American in active-duty military service.

Lt. Gen. Eric Shinseki, a Hawaiian of Japanese descent, is the highest-ranking APA in the active military. He is assigned to the U.S. Forces in Europe. Another Filipino American, Antonio Taguba, was also promoted recently to brigadier general.

"I feel pretty good about it [his promotion]," said Soriano, reached at his office in the Pentagon. "It's a significant milestone in my career. The Army obviously feels that I can continue to serve and make contributions based on my potential."

Soriano, 50, is director for operations, readiness, and mobilization at the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans. His job is to ensure that Army units are prepared and ready to go on a mission anywhere in the world at a moment's notice.

He is responsible for the mobilization of U.S. forces in Haiti, Bosnia, Somalia, and other hot spots as well as in Europe and the United States.

A year ago, he was the assistant commander of the 1st Infantry Division of the American peacekeeping force in Bosnia. He also served during the Gulf War, including a stint as chief of the liaison team to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Saudi Arabia.

In 1992, Soriano was Army Section chief of the Secretary of Defense Gulf War Report team for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In his 27-year career with the U.S. Army, he has commanded an infantry battalion and infantry brigade and spent some time at the Pentagon.

"It's a significant responsibility," Soriano said. "You're entrusted with the lives of the soldiers and their families. It takes dedication and hard work to succeed."

Soriano was born in Alcala, Pangasinan, a province about 100 miles north of Manila on Nov. 12, 1946. He was a sickly child, his mother said; he had to be operated on at age 5 to remove kidney stones.

"At one time, he was so sick that we almost lost him," said Encarnacion, who stayed home to raise Soriano and a sister, Blez, while her husband was in the military.

After Federico was captured during the Korean War, the family left Guam and moved back to the Philippines, where they stayed for three years until Federico was released from the POW camp.

In the 1960s, the Soriano family moved to Salinas, Calif., where Soriano graduated from Salinas High School. He excelled in sports and joined a Filipino dance troupe with his sister Blez.

"Yes, we can do the tinikling--a Filipino folk dance using bamboo poles--along with other Filipino dances," said Blez, who is married to a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Air Force and lives in Livermore, Calif.

Blez said she and her brother enjoyed their life as "Army brats." She said that because of their military upbringing, they were exposed to a lot of different people. Although they were raised to be independent, they were taught the Filipino values of family and respect for elders, she said.

"My dad did not force him [Soriano] to go into the military," Blez said. "He asked if it was a viable career. He found out he was a natural leader, and knew it was something he could do well."

Soriano said he was attracted to the military because it offers a lot of opportunities. "I was interested in that way of life, which can be personally and professionally rewarding."

Soriano joined the Army in 1970 after graduating from San Jose State University with a degree in management. He completed the infantry-officer basic and advanced courses, and attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College.

He also holds a master's degree in public administration from the University of Missouri. He has commanded units in Korea and Germany and U.S. Army units in North Carolina, Washington, Georgia, New York, and Texas.

With his wife, Vivian, Soriano has two children: Melissa, 23, a first-grade teacher in Boulder, Colo., and Keith, 19, a student at the University of Colorado.

Soriano will stay for another year at his job in the Pentagon, which he took in February 1996 following a two-year stint in Germany. "Whenever I see Asian Pacific American soldiers, I try to encourage them. [The military] is a viable career, but not easy by any means."

He said he considers himself a role model for Asian Pacific Americans, particularly Filipino Americans.

"It's a responsibility that I got to take being the first two-star Filipino American general," Soriano said. "I'd like to see more Filipino Americans in the military.

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