Kilma S. Lattin

Kilma Sibimoat Lattin (October 30, 1978) is a Native American leader, businessman, and military veteran. He is a member of the Pala Band of Mission Indians in San Diego, California, where he was elected to multiple terms of office on both the Executive Committee and the Tribal Council between 2006 and 2012.[1]

Kilma Sibimoat Lattin
Born (1978-10-30) October 30, 1978
La Jolla, California
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service2001-2006
RankSergeant (2001-2002)
Second Lieutenant (2002-2004)
First Lieutenant (2004-2006)
Unit145th Aviation Regiment
1/18th Air Cavalry
AwardsSoldier's Medal for Valor
Alma materUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) (BA)
University of Southern California (USC) (MBA)
Other workRegional Emmy Award for "Defending the Homeland"

Early life and education

Lattin was born in La Jolla, part of San Diego, California[2] He spent part of his early childhood in La Jolla and part on the Pala Indian Reservation. He graduated from La Jolla High School in 1996.[3] He earned a Bachelors Degrees in History from UC Santa Barbara in 2002.[4] While in college he served in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Lattin earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business in cooperation with University of Southern California.[5]

Family military heritage

Lattin's family has served in the military for multiple generations. His maternal great-grandfather was a World War I (WWI) pilot. Simultaneously in WWI, his maternal grandfather, Colonel Thomas George Lanphier Sr., a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1914, was also serving in WWI in the Army Air Corp stationed in France. Lanphier Sr., was one of three men to ever fly the Spirit of St. Louis during his time as the Commander of Selfridge Field, Michigan. An uncle, Colonel Thomas George Lanphier, Jr. is partially credited as having shot down the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto, killing the mastermind of the Pearl Harbor attack. Lattin's paternal grandfather, Roy A. Lattin, Sr., was a Private First Class in the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal.[6]

Military career

Lattin joined began his military service in the U.S. Army as both a Non-Commissioned Officer, Sergeant, and Cadet in the Reserve Officer Training Corps. As a Sergeant, Lattin's first station was in the 3-140th Aviation, a CH-47 Chinook Company located in Stockton, California. In 2002, Lattin earned a full commission as an Aviation Officer in the United States Army's Air Cavalry, the 1-18th AIR CAV based out of Los Alamitos, California.[3] Lattin was eventually qualified to fly the OH-58 Kiowa and the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.[7] He served in the 145th Aviation Regiment, 1-18th AIR CAV at Fort Rucker, and was honorably discharged in 2006 for a service-related knee injury.[8]

Soldier's Medal

In April 2003 while en route to a flight school training session at Fort Rucker, Lattin saw a woman on the side of the road who was engulfed in flames. This was later revealed to have been caused by to an accident with a gas mower. The woman had panicked and run, causing the flames to spread. Lattin jumped out of his vehicle and saved her life by pushing her to the ground and extinguishing the flames with his body and the freshly-mowed grass.[9] During this incident, Lattin sustained 2nd-degree burns over his face, arms, and neck. He was recognized for the deed with a Distinguished Citizen Award by the City of Enterprise, Alabama, and presented with the Soldier's Medal for Valor by the Commanding General Officer of Fort Rucker, the U.S. Army's flight school.[8]

Native American leadership and advocacy

Tribal leadership

Starting in 2006, Lattin held various leadership roles on the Pala Reservation, including a position in the Tribal Council, various boards, and in delegations to the National Congress of American Indians and National Indian Gaming Commission. In 2012, he worked with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs John Tahsuda to draft domestic policy positions for the 2012 Presidential Campaign.[1][10][11][12]

Pala Skatepark

In 2007, Lattin led an effort to raise $600,000 and hired skatepark architect Wally Hollyday[13] to design and build a new 22,000-square-foot skatepark that included bowls, ramps, rails, and a kidney-shaped pool within the existing Pala Reservation sports complex. Completed in 2018, the Pala Skatepark[14] was featured in the touring exhibition "Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America" which showed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian Washington, D.C. location and its New York City location in 2009 and 2010, with a national tour in 2012-2015.[15][16][17]

Native American veterans advocacy

Lattin founded the Pala Veterans Organization which provides Pala veterans with a community and meeting schedule which has provided a much-needed outlet in which to share their experiences with other veterans, and subsequently conceived of and produced a documentary titled, Defending The Homeland[18] about their service in the military. It won a Regional Emmy Award in 2013.[19][20]

See also

References
  1. "Pala Tribe of Mission Indians: About Us". Pala Tribe. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  2. "Timekeeper: The Official Newsletter of the La Jolla Historical Society" (PDF). La Jolla Historical Society. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  3. "Kilma Lattin, Accomplished La Jollan, Champions Many Causes". La Jolla Blue Book. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  4. "History Celebrates with Alumni at All Gaucho Reunion". UC Santa Barbara. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  5. "USC Commencement Program". University of Southern California. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  6. "Defending the Homeland: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces". Defending the Homeland. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  7. "Kilma Lattin, LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  8. "Kilma Sibimoat Lattin, Soldier's Medal". Military Times. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. "Bus driver, student pilot save Enterprise girl from blaze". The Southeast Sun. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  10. "2006 San Diego Regional Tribal Summit" (PDF). SANDAG. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  11. "Kilma Lattin". National Congress of American Indians, YouTube. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  12. "Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs = John Tahsuda". Bureau of Indian Affairs. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  13. "Wally Hollyday Skateparks". Wally Hollyday. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  14. "Pala Skatepark". Pala Band of Mission Indians. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  15. ""Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America" Opens at the National Museum of the American Indian". Smithsonian Institute. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  16. ""PALA: Skate park included in Smithsonian exhibit". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  17. "Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in Native America". Smithsonian Institute. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  18. "Defending the Homeland". Defending the Homeland, Pala Band of Mission Indians. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. "Communication Alumnus Kilma S. Lattin's Emmy Award". UC Santa Barbara Department of Communication. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  20. "Emmy Award winner to discuss film". The Valley Roadrunner. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
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