El Paso Sergeant Velton “Lock” Locklear III was leading a patrol during his second tour of duty in Iraq on September 23, 2006 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Sadly, the 29-year-old son, brother, husband, and father of two boys did not survive the attack.

The El Paso Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) Outreach Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2016 by the El Paso Chapter of the MOAA, wanted to honor Sergeant Locklear and looked for a partner to extend its charitable work in the greater El Paso area. It turned to the El Paso Community Foundation, where it has established a scholarship in Sergeant Locklear’s honor.

Sergeant Locklear was an academic and football standout in Eastwood High School’s Class of 1995. Friends called Velton “a gentle giant.” His father, Sergeant Major Velton Locklear, Jr., himself a combat veteran, said of his son: “Velton, he is a living legacy. He served his country courageously and we are extremely proud of him. He paid the ultimate price for his family and his country, and we will always love him for that.”

The new scholarship can be used for tuition and related expenses toward the academic year for MOAA members, active-duty military, retired military, their families, and Junior and Senior ROTC cadets. Applications for its first round of scholarships will be available January 1 through February 1, 2022, at epcf.org/receive.

U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) John Robbins, Vice President of the El Paso MOAA Outreach Foundation, said it is important to the security of our nation to help local young men and women interested in pursuing their educations and military careers. He is hoping that more active-duty and recently retired military officers will join the local El Paso MOAA Chapter to help his foundation increase its reach. “We’re trying to get more interest from the next generation of the military to help provide needed support to the local military community in need and to establish other memorial scholarships honoring our fallen Heroes,” Robbins said.

The El Paso MOAA Outreach Foundation’s Great Gift to El Paso is its desire to help young people advance their educations and military careers and to strengthen the close relationship El Paso has enjoyed with the military for more than a century.

For more information about the new scholarship, call the El Paso Community Foundation at 915-533-4020. For more information about the El Paso MOAA Outreach Foundation, go to elpasomoaa.org/outreach.