Five non-citizen recruits took an oath of American allegiance on Friday after completing Navy boot camp. They are among the recruits who were given the opportunity to enlist in the military and become citizens, through the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program.

Among the five recruits who took their oath last Friday were Abdisalam Omar of Somalia and Samuel Njuguna of Kenya. Both of them came to the United States as college students four years ago. Omar studied finance and accounting through a basketball scholarship, while Njuguna studied communications, wrote for the college newspaper and served as yearbook editor.

While Omar and Njuguna initially had other career plans, they both opted to enlist in the Navy as MAVNI recruits after earning their bachelor’s degrees – and earn U.S. citizenship in the process. They are headed for San Diego, California, and will be serving as linguists with the Navy SEALs.

Omar shared that he got excited with “the possibility of being associated with the Navy SEALs,” adding that becoming a sailor applied more “to my life and what I want to do with my life than business would.”

Njuguna, for his part, shared: “I saw this as an opportunity to use my knowledge to support a noble mission…  I know the U.S. military is very helpful around the world and Kenya has benefitted from what the military is doing.”