Alberto A. Nido

Brigadier General Alberto A. Nido (1 March 1919 – 27 October 1991) is a former United States Air Force officer who during World War II served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, the British Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Forces. He was also the co-founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard.

Early years Nido was born and raised in the town of Arroyo in Puerto Rico. There he received his primary and secondary education. In 1938, he enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico and studied mechanical engineering in the institution's Mayagüez Campus. During his days as a university student, he decided that he would like to become an aviator for the United States Armed Forces. After he earned his college degree, Nido traveled to the island of Saint Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands with the intention of joining the United States Naval Aviation. Later, in 1943, Nido and 59 other American pilots were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces. He was assigned to the 67th Fighter Group as a P-51 Mustang fighter pilot. Nido baptized his P-51 with the name of "Alile" in honor of the girl that he left back home.

In January 1966, Nido, approached Maj. Gen. Winston P. Wilson, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, inquired about the possibility of constructing a range at the Army Guard's Salinas Training Area (Camp Santiago), located 35 miles south of the coast of Puerto Rico. Two days later, Brig Gen. Salvador Roig approved a plan for this project and assigned Captain Gabriel I. Peñagarícano as project officer. The NGB budgeted $10,000 for this construction; this tight budget required a maximum in-house effort. The U.S. Army Antilles Command, caretakers of the Salinas Training Area, provided earth-moving equipment and personnel to level the target area. They also dug necessary holes for electric power poles, communications and strafing and skip-bombing targets. The range towers were donated by the air depot at McDill AFB and transported directly to the range on C-123 aircraft. Nido, who also served as commander of the local chapter of the "Military Order of World Wars", retired from the military with the rank of Brigadier General in 1974.

Awards and decorations Among Nido's awards and decorations were the following:

1 Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal with four bronze oak leaf clusters 2 American Defense Service Medal Air Force Presidential Unit Citation with one bronze oak leaf cluster National Defense Service Medal 3 European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal

Badges:

Legacy A main road at Muñiz Air National Guard Base is named after Brigadier General Alberto A. Nido.

In 2021 Alberto A. Nido was posthumously inducted into the Puerto Rico Veterans Hall of Fame.