--- title: "A Hawaii airman hit the surf in dress blues on his first day out of the Air Force" description: "Siaosi Soto wanted to make his first day out of the Air Force memorable, so he put on dress blues and hit his hometown surf." date: "2025-08-15" modified: "2025-08-15" authors: - name: "Matt White" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/matt-white/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/airman-surfing-on-getting-out/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "News" --- # A Hawaii airman hit the surf in dress blues on his first day out of the Air Force ![]() *Senior Amn. Siaosi Soto went bodyboarding in his Air Force dress blues on his first day out of the Air Force. Screen captures from Siaosi Soto's instagram.* As Siaosi Soto approached his final day in the Air Force, he wanted to get one last use out of his military uniform. So in full ‘dress blues’ — the Air Force’s formal coat-and-tie duty uniform — Soto headed to the beach and got barreled. “I had it planned right before I started my terminal leave,” Soto told Task & Purpose. “I’ve been bodyboarding for about 16 years so I wanted to do something different for me getting out.” Captured on a video posted to his personal Instagram, Soto put in a multi-wave bodyboard session in full uniform at Sandy Beach, a renowned bodyboard spot on the south side of O’ahu, about an hour from Soto's hometown of Ewa Beach. Soto's freedom ride — complete with Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" as the soundtrack — was first posted by the [Air Force amn/nco/snco]() Facebook page. Soto joined the Air Force in 2019 and served a six-year active duty enlistment in Security Forces, most near his hometown, at [Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam](). Though he kept his military career mostly off social media during his time in, he made at least one video on duty that made clear he’d be out soon. The video captures Soto in the rear of a military pick-up truck, with a simple caption: “Can’t wait to get out.” When his DD 214 day arrived on July 25, he said, his plan hit a problem: no uniform. “The cleaners threw my blues coat away or gave them to someone else,” he said. So he borrowed a friend’s jacket for the surf session. That meant that Soto, who left the Air Force as a Senior Airman, was technically out of uniform twice in one video — once, in his blues shirt with A1C stripes, and second in his friend’s jacket, wearing Staff Sgt. rank. “He just put on E-5,” Soto said. “My boys were all for it. The coat was fine. Took it to the dry cleaners and looks brand new. He has two of them so he wasn’t worried.” Check out Soto’s “[final act of service” here](). ## Author Matt White is a senior editor at Task & Purpose*.* He writes on news, people and events that affect the lives of those in the Army, Air Force and Space Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He also helps direct and edit coverage across Task & Purpose’s newsroom. He has written widely on military aviation and mishaps, service members with unique stories, and special operations including [combat search and rescue](). Got a story to tell? You can reach Matt at [matthew.white@taskandpurpose.com]() ### Author social links [Facebook]()