Upon graduation from The Citadel in May 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, Rear Adm. Rodriguez was commissioned an Ensign through the NROTC Scholarship Program. He immediately reported for duty aboard USS Thomas C. Hart (FF 1092) where he was designated as a surface warfare officer. In June 1980, he reported to the staff of (Tactical) Destroyer Squadron 32.

Rodriguez attended the Naval Postgraduate School from 1982 to 1984, receiving a Master of Science in Systems Technology (Command, Control and Communications with emphasis in Computer Science and Communications Engineering). While at the Naval Postgraduate School, he was selected for lateral transfer to the Engineering Duty Officer Community. His Engineering Duty Officer tours of duty included supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Long Beach, California in New Construction Shipbuilding; electronics material officer and combat systems maintenance officer aboard USS Midway (CV 41); Test and Evaluation manager and systems engineer for the MILSTAR Joint Terminal Program Office at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command; Aircraft Carrier Service Life Extension program manager, and deputy assistant program manager for In Service Carriers, Aircraft Carrier Program Office, and group director for the Integrated Information Systems Engineering Group in the Engineering Directorate at Naval Sea Systems Command.

From September 1994 to July 1997, Rodriguez served as the officer in charge of the Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center, In Service Engineering, East Coast Division, Norfolk Detachment, or NISE East Det Norfolk (formerly NAVELEX Portsmouth), located at St. Juliens Creek Annex, Portsmouth, Virginia. 

From March 1999 to June 2004, Rodriguez was the program manager for the Naval Electronic Combat Surveillance Systems and Maritime Cryptologic Systems, and subsequently, program manager for the Navy Command and Control Systems, including the Global Command and Control Systems – Maritime, at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command and PEO C4I and Space.

Upon selection to flag rank in March 2004, Rodriguez was assigned as chief engineer for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. Between November 2005 and February 2006, he was acting commander for SPAWAR, and from August to October 2007, he was the program executive officer for Enterprise Information Services.

From 2007 to 2008, he was a member of Admiral Roughead’s CNO Diversity Council. Rodriguez retired from active duty effective 01 October 2008.

From 2008 to 2012, Rodriguez was director of Outreach, West Coast and a professor of Practice in Systems Engineering for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He was responsible for research and business development as well as relation building between the Naval Postgraduate School and its external customers. 

In November 2008, Rodriguez co-established and was appointed the president and CEO, San Ysidro Education Vanguard Foundation (501(c)3) to improve the education of children in the San Ysidro School District by working with the leadership of this District to fund programs that lead to measurable results in student achievement.

In April 2011, he was elected as the national president of the Association of Naval Services Officers (ANSO) – the Hispanic American affinity group for the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard; serving in that position until March 2019.

In January 2013, he was hired as chief engineer for the Global Source Energy Corporation, San Diego, where he directed all renewable energy projects. 

He is currently a board member of the Hispanic Veterans Leadership Alliance, a member of Mission: Readiness, vice chairman of the board of directors for Vocational Solutions in Hendersonville, North Carolina, a member of MOAA, and he is a volunteer for the Henderson County (North Carolina) Youth Leadership Program. He is the former National President of the Association of Naval Services Officers; former member of: the East San Diego County DEFCOMM, San Diego Foundation Science and Technology Working Group, San Diego Leadership Forum, AFCEA, ASNE and the advisory committee to The Citadel’s School of Science and Math.

Last Updated: 10 March 2022