Eight Army National Guard soldiers and one U.S. Army Reservist became U.S. citizens late last month during a ceremony at the University of Guam field house.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials performed the ceremony, naturalizing five soldiers from the Philippines and four from the Federated States of Micronesia.

The ceremony was part of the sendoff for members of the Guam Army Guard's A Company, 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry, who are deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The USCIS Guam field office helped the soldiers complete their applications and forward them to the Nebraska Service Center, which processes expedited naturalization requests for troops serving in the war on terror as part of a July 3, 2003 presidential executive order.

Under expedited naturalization, military members on active duty are immediately eligible to become citizens, provided they meet all other requirements for U.S. citizenship.

For these soldiers, the process took 15 days rather than the usual seven months.

As of late October, USCIS had naturalized more than 35,125 members of the U.S. armed forces since the beginning of the war on terror.

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