Paying it Forward
By LCDR Jennifer Velasquez McCord, U.S. Navy Reserves
My name is Jennifer Velasquez
McCord, and I am a firstgeneration
American born to
parents who migrated from Medellin,
Colombia looking for the “American
Dream”. At the age of six, I realized that I
owed a lot to America for the opportunities
it had afforded my family and me. I still
remember traveling to Colombia and
noticing the differences between my
cousins’ lives and mine. From a very young
age, I knew that I wanted to serve in
the greatest military in the world because of how
blessed I felt.
In 2009, I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy
and was commissioned as a Naval Officer. While on
active duty, I deployed on the USS CLEVELAND in
support of the Pacific Partnership humanitarian civic
assistance tour. During the deployment, I visited Papua
New Guinea, Timor Leste, and the Federated States
of Micronesia. The deployment gave me a deeper
appreciation for the United States. While in the
Reserves, I deployed to Afghanistan and Djibouti in
support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM and
OPERATION INHERENT RESOLVE.
The Navy not only offered me an education but
introduced me to my loving husband. I met him when I
was deployed for the third time in Al Udeid Air Force
Base, running operations for the Expeditionary Combat
Readiness Center (ECRC), responsible for deploying and
returning sailors from the Central Command Area of
Operation (CENTCOM AOR).
My time being deployed set my civilian career
up for success. My first post-military role was in 2018
supporting the Joint Special Operations Command
(JSOC) in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It was a place
I was very familiar with because I had received my
training from the “quiet professionals”.
Working for Lockheed Martin in support of JSOC’s
J4 – Supply Directorate introduced me to the software
development field, and more specifically, I fell in
love with User Experience (UX) Design. Time again,
mentoring, coaching, and sponsoring have helped me
in my Navy career and it continues in my civilian career.
I owe my success to many mentors and coaches, so I
have the responsibility to pay it forward.
Many veterans feel the need to pay it forward, and
I experienced that when I was transitioning from my
last active-duty mobilization as a Reservist. I was
encouraged to join LinkedIn and connect with other
Latinos in fields that I was interested in. I scheduled
multiple informational interviews to gain a better
understanding of several roles in the corporate sector.
I also learned that having someone walk my resume to
a hiring manager had a better success rate in landing
me an interview. Today I stay active on LinkedIn and
assist other transitioning veterans with building
connections that could lead them to their first
post-military career. Please connect with me on
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jvmccord09/
As a Latina Navy Reserve Officer, paying it forward
is also important to me because I believe it will help
with a certain military statistic. A 2019 Congressional
Research report showed that Hispanics are the
fastest-growing population in the military making up
about 18 percent of all active-duty military. However, it
indicated we only make up 8% of the officer corps and
1 percent of general/flag officers. I have made it a
personal goal to change this statistic by serving in the
Association of Naval Service Officers (ANSO) and as a
co-advisor for the U.S. Air Force Academy’s cadet
Hispanic Heritage Club (HHC). Both organizations are
focused on empowering LatinX/Hispanic descendant
military personnel. With my involvement, I hope to
continue to grow in the Navy Reserves and make a
positive impact on our future leaders while becoming
my ancestors’ wildest dreams.
LCDR Jennifer
Velasquez is an
Experience (UX)
Designer with
AFCyberWorx at
the U.S. Air Force
Academy. She is an
Army spouse and
has an 11-year-old
son. Her “why”
is to have a
positive influence
on everyone she
encounters.
LS
Veteran’s Perspective
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Afghanistan deployment. Kabul, 2015. Afghanistan deployment. Bagram, July 4, 2014.
44 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle V ol. 27, No. 6, 2021