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Carlos Rodrigues

Carlos Rodrigues: Immigrant-to-Citizen, Army 25S SatCom, and a Second Life of Service to Veterans

Carlos Rodrigues was born in Bogotá, Colombia, moved to Tampa around age 13–14, finished high school there, attended USF, and became a U.S. citizen in the early 1990s. From the start, his story is framed around chosen belonging: he says he fell in love with Florida, America, and feels “lucky to be here.”

Why he joined (post-9/11)

  • He initially had been on a track to enlist in the Navy as an officer, but a “broken heart experience” derailed it.

  • After 9/11, he still wanted to serve. He enlisted end of 2002 / in 2003 (he describes it as “one year after 9/11”).

Branch: U.S. Army
MOS: 25S (Satellite Communications)
He emphasizes he joined enlisted, not officer—“turned out to be more fun.”

Length of service

  • 20 years and 1 month (retired)

Defining deployments and moments

A major pivot happens after returning to Florida from Germany:

  • His mother became a hospice patient with pancreatic cancer.

  • He requested a compassionate assignment to JCSC at MacDill (Tampa).

  • After her passing, he volunteered for everything—and then came a deployment that “changed the course” of his life.

Key events he mentions:

  • Africa deployment attached alongside Navy SEALs (he’s explicit: “I’m not a Navy SEAL.”)

  • A “pretty crazy” situation in Mogadishu that became hot on arrival; he describes a bullet he believed was headed toward his head and the emotional shock of surviving it.

  • Sustained mortar attacks for months (“every other day” for seven months).

  • A Yemen event tied to an embassy closure (he cites 2014), describing being among the last ones there, burning classified material, and the deterrent effect of overhead drones.

His reflection isn’t “war story for war story’s sake”—it’s existential:

  • Why did I survive?

  • Why didn’t others?

  • What is my mission now?

Influential roles: instructor and mentorship

He highlights becoming an instructor at Fort Gordon, Georgia (SatCom training; he references Vincent Hall).

  • He says he went “kicking and screaming,” then fell in love with teaching.

  • In his later instructor phase, he focused on helping soldiers become independent—not just employable, but able to pursue passion and protect their families.

Transition out of the Army: Germany → Pinellas County

He wanted to remain in Germany after retirement:

  • He learned the language.

  • He’s a musician and imagined living on his pension plus gigs (he plays Latin music).

  • He liked the expatriate military community and support network.

But after 20 years of his wife following his Army life, he said: “It’s your turn.”

  • She wanted to return home near family.

  • They moved to Pinellas County, living in Clearwater.

His first retirement plan (fishing + gardening) failed fast:

  • “Turns out to be very boring. And I hate gardening.”

  • He missed the camaraderie deeply.

What he does now: veteran outreach + suicide prevention

Carlos now works for Empath Health (hospice / full-life care, plus palliative care), within a veteran program.

What he actually does day-to-day (as described):

  • Veteran-focused outreach and community partnership building

  • “Coffee socials” to reduce isolation and create peer connection

  • Supporting veterans in crisis, including those at risk of self-harm

  • Strong alignment with the Zero Suicide Alliance

  • He cites the widely repeated figure of 22 veterans a day (used in many veteran advocacy contexts)

He’s very direct about the problem set:

  • loneliness epidemic (especially among veterans)

  • loss of “direction, motivation, purpose” after service

  • the need to translate military bluntness into civilian diplomacy (his “soup sandwich” joke lands well in this interview)

Library of Congress tie-in

He references participating in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project via the “We Honor Veterans” program—sending veteran videos to be archived—parallel to what your team is doing with Veteran Voices.

Identity and meaning: “double special”

He emphasizes being an immigrant-veteran:

  • “We chose to come here. We chose to love America. We chose to fight for America.”
    He frames it as a chosen family and chosen nation—gratitude plus responsibility.

Advice to a young person considering service

He literally lived this “yesterday”:

  • He helped ship his younger cousin to the Air Force.

  • He’s proud regardless of branch: “Choose to serve.”

  • Service as a forge: becoming a man/woman/person of service; camaraderie you can’t replicate elsewhere.

He names his cousin:

  • Ernano (he also says “Santi” then corrects; transcript is a bit unclear), 19 years old, wants to become a pilot.

Closing message (to camera)

Short, intentional:

  • thanks to brothers/sisters-in-arms

  • thanks to Pinellas County community for letting him continue serving

  • thanks to family for supporting his 20 years

  • he’ll keep serving until he “go join” his mom—his inspiration