National Hispanic Heritage Month: Peruvian American lieutenant leads by example

For generations, Hispanic Americans have served on the front lines and supported critical operations at home and abroad, exemplifying their commitment to our nation's safety and progress. Currently, more than 14% of the Department of the Navy’s total force shares Hispanic descent.

Lt. Javier Lopez Coronado, 46, the environmental health department head for Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine Unit 6, oversees and sets the example for two officers and three enlisted on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. His team provides specialized services to operational units and shore commands throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) area of responsibility in environmental health supporting overall force health protection.

Lopez Coronado was born in Lima, Peru, a city where one of the biggest industries is catching anchovies, so some might not see it as a surprise that he earned a Bachelor of Science in fishing science and held several jobs in the industry. He started work with a fishing net company and helped create enormous fishing nets the size of sports stadiums and also worked as a fishmeal factory inspector for a different company. Later he worked as a logistics planner who also managed payroll for a fishing ship. He always knew, however, that he wanted to join the military for the discipline and because his grandfather served as a major in the Peruvian Army.

After Lopez Coronado moved to the U.S. and began working for a turf management company in Fairfax County, Virginia, he became more aware of ecological and conservation issues that made him eventually join the Navy as an environmental health officer. He earned a Master of Science in public health and he wanted the opportunity to work at sea again, so he decided that the Navy was a great opportunity to pursue both interests. Lopez Coronado has served in the Navy since 2018 when he was accepted in the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) and earned a direct commission as an environmental health officer; he and his wife have two daughters and he calls Miami, Florida his U.S. home.

We spoke with Lopez Coronado about his leadership style, an inspirational Peruvian author, the rewards and challenges of his job, and a unique Peruvian tradition.

What is your leadership style?

I like to lead by example. That’s what I’m trained to do. I’m the kind of person who takes ownership of what I do. I can delegate tasks but not the responsibility. That’s what I do with my people over here. Even if they are also officers, I work with other O3s all the time, but I still try and instill that type of leadership. Sometimes you don’t like an order, but you have to fulfill it. It’s yours. That’s why you get a paycheck. It’s as simple as that. Just lead by example and take ownership of whatever you do.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Seeing that people really enjoy the fact that you are there. They really appreciate the job you are doing in their countries.

Last year I went on a four-month deployment with the Pacific Partnership 2023, that was my most rewarding experience, working with the people from Samoa [Lopez Coronado was officer in charge of Samoa for the medical line of effort], the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and Tonga.

I was in charge of the public health emergency management, so essentially in every country, my line of effort was to provide some support to the communities or the cities in regard to public health emergency management.

I worked with the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM) and we provided workshops together about emergency management.

At the beginning, I felt like people were going to reject me, but people are very welcoming. I was very impressed by that. I never experienced anything like that, not even in South America. In the islands and here, people are so welcoming. That’s something that I’m never going to forget, being in those places and helping the people over there.

What’s one of the most challenging parts of your job?

Balancing your life. My previous station was at a clinic in Corpus Christi, Texas as the alternate public health emergency officer. During COVID-19, I was working seven days a week including Saturdays and Sundays. I was the only public health officer in the area, so that was very stressful.

What Hispanic person inspires you?

There is a Peruvian writer who has a Nobel Prize in literature, Mario Vargas Lllosa, who I read a lot. One of his most famous books is called The City and the Dogs. There’s a movie from the 80s too. If you watch the movie or read the book that was written in the 60s, it describes the reality of military education in Peru. Llosa received a military education in high school and that’s how he relates all these experiences in his book. Usually the students were physically disciplined in these military schools. At one point in my life, I wondered if that would happen to me when I joined the U.S. Navy, is someone going to hit me? But what I remember from officer development school with the Navy is that the chief said, “If you can’t do the pushups, don’t do it. Maybe it’s going to go against you, but no one is going to harm you here.”

In this book, it describes a military system in Peru that is totally the opposite. You have to survive the school in Peru by bullying other people.

In America, we realize how bullying negatively affects kids and teenagers, but in Latin American countries, they have just started waking up about bullying as a public health issue.

[Note for our readers: October is also National Book Month]

Do you have any Peruvian traditions that you observe in your family?

My grandfather has already passed away, but he lived close to the highlands. They have a tradition in the summer. They hang gifts on a tree. They call it Yunza. People dance around the tree and then stop and they start cutting the tree usually an unhealthy tree that they hang gifts on. At some point, the tree will fall down and everyone fights for the gifts. Some people will put big money on the tree like a check for $5,000, I’ve seen it before. If you are the person that cuts down the tree, then the following year, you are the person who sets up the Yunza party. You will find the tree and set up some gifts as well.

What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

For me, it’s celebrating gratitude to the U.S. This country allows me to dream. I was able to come here and set goals. I worked for those goals and reached my goals. Now that I have reached those goals, what can I provide for this country? I think that my active duty service is a way to say thank you to this country.

In the same way, because I have my two daughters, I instill in them the love for America as well because they were born here. I teach them that their heritage is from Peru, but they have to fulfill their duties as American citizens as well. That’s what I’m trying to do. It’s gratitude to this country that I have. That’s what I celebrate.