Lt. Col. Ramón Martínez has volunteered for a new assignment. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 1996, Martínez went from working in DNA technology and homeland security to becoming one of Rhode Island's highest-ranking advocates for Hispanic issues.

Now he leads the nonprofit Progreso Latino and the agency's social services and adult-education programs, including classes in English literacy and in small-business creation.

He says knowing how to lead like a colonel is key to his current post, which he assumed in 2006: "I don't need to be told what to do. I create order out of chaos."