BAHAMIAN U.S. COAST GUARD ENSIGN WAS AMONG GUESTS AT INDEPENDENCE PICNIC
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Among the Bahamians in the Diaspora who enjoyed the picnic organized by The Bahamas Embassy Consular Annex and the Bahamian American Association in the D.C. area on Saturday, July 9, 2016 as one of the activities celebrating the 43rd anniversary of The Bahamas attainment of independence from Great Britain was Ensign Nakera Rahming-Saldana, a Bahamian who joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 2010.
Mrs. Rahming Saldana, who is stationed at the U.S. Coast Guard Base in Alexandria, Virginia, where the picnic was held, graduated from Freeport Anglican High in 2003 and attended the University of West Florida, from where she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Software Engineering.
“I joined the Coast Guard in 2010 and was previously stationed in San Francisco, California, for the past six years,” Ensign Rahming-Saldana said in a brief interview at the picnic. “I was commissioned as an officer last year and was then transferred to the US Coast Guard Base TISCOM, here in Alexandria, as a Project Manager to manage internet connectivity on all of the Coast Guard Cutters/Boats, especially the ones that work alongside the Bahamas Defense force.”
Asked how often she visits The Bahamas, she said: “I visit home at least once a year. As the saying goes, ‘Born, bred, gon dead Bahamian.’ My entire family still resides in The Bahamas, mostly in Freeport. My father is Herbert Rahming, who hails from Fox Hill and works for the Bahamas Customs, and my mother is Mary Rahming (nee Hield) from High Rock, who is an art teacher at Jack Hayward High in Freeport.”
Ensign Rahming Saldana is married to Carlos Saldana, who is from the Virgin Islands, and they have a two-year-old daughter.
CAPTION ONE
Ensign Nakera Saldana-Rahming, a Bahamian in the U.S. Coast Guard, is flanked by Nicanor E. Davidson (right), a Bahamian who is a former U.S. Army Aviator, and Bernard Colebrook, a Bahamian who is a retired U.S. Marine Corps veteran, at the Bahamas independence celebration picnic held at U.S. Coast Guard Base in Alexandria, Virginia, on Saturday. Davidson and Colebrook are two of the principal organizers of the picnic.
CAPTION TWO
Ensign Nakera Saldana-Rahming (center) is pictured at the Bahamas independence celebration picnic held at U.S. Coast Guard Base in Alexandria, Virginia, on Saturday, with from left to right: His Excellency Dr. Eugene Newry, Bahamas Ambassador to the United States; Ms. Cleola Hamilton, MP for South Beach and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ms. Paulette Zonicle, Bahamas Consul General to D.C.; and Mr. Bernard Colebrook, a Bahamian who is a retired U.S. Marine Corps veteran.