Sometimes the transition from military service to civilian life happens gradually over time. In other cases, it happens in an instant. Neither path is necessarily easy, but maintaining a sense of purpose is key to successfully finding a new path in life.

Alex Ortiz is a 1L law student at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of Law, a 2022 VFW-SVA Legislative Fellow, and a 2022 SVA Student Veteran of the year finalist. Before starting his legal studies, he served as a wheel vehicle mechanic while on deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division.

In this interview, Alex speaks with host Mary Kate Soliva about:

• Being medically discharged from the U.S. Army and suddenly needing to discover a new path and a new purpose

• Why he thinks is can be such a challenge connecting Veterans with the programs and services that exist to support them

• How life and military service are experienced differently from a U.S. territory like Puerto Rico

Intro/Outro (00:02):

Welcome to Veteran Voices. A podcast is dedicated to giving a voice to those that have served in the United States Armed Forces on this series jointly presented by Supply Chain now and vets to industry. We sit down with a wide variety of veterans and veteran advocates to gain their insights, perspective, and stories from serving. We talk with many individuals about their challenging transition from active duty to the private sector, and we discuss some of the most vital issues facing veterans today. Join us for this episode of Veteran Voices.

Mary Kate Soliva (00:47):

Hello everyone. This is Mary Kate Soliva, the host of Veteran Voices. Super excited about our episode today and I hope you are coming back. If you are not a returning Veteran Voices fan, welcome to our episodes and our show where I interview veterans who are serving beyond the uniform and Veteran Voices is part of the supply chain now family. You can check out the Supply Chain Now podcast, wherever you get your podcast from. And we are a proud partnership with the military Women’s Collective and military women’s collective.org. And founded by my dear sister and navy veteran Marina Nik, you can check them out on what they’re doing to support, uh, women veterans all over. And also we are a proud partnership with the Guam Human Rights Initiative, an our organization near and dear to my heart, where they address human rights issues impacting Guam and the region. You can find out more about them@guamhri.org. So without further ado, I am super excited to introduce our guest today and he is an Army veteran, but he’s also proudly here representing the Student Veterans of America. And for those of you who don’t know about the Student Veterans of America, you’re in for a treat because they do such incredible work nationwide for student veterans, but also the advocacy work on The Hill, which is why I’m so proud to have Alex Ortiz here in the show. Alex, thank you so much for joining us today.

Alex Ortiz (02:19):

Thank you for having me.

Mary Kate Soliva (02:22):

And I was like, how could I forget also that you were also the V F W Post Commander of Post 1 1 1 0 3 in Puerto Rico. So shout out woo woo to the territories <laugh>. So I love that. Right? And being my family, being from Guam, yours being from Puerto Rico, just shout out there with the, the US territories and probably serving. So I wanted to see Alex, if, if you could kick us off with some motivation, pump us up. You’re welcome to sing if you feel like it, but I just think it’s a great way to get the show rolling.

Alex Ortiz (02:53):

Yeah, definitely. So the one of my favorite motivational quotes is from George Burr and Adams and it’s, there’s no such thing as a self-made man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deeded for us or spoken one word of encouragement to us has entered into our makeup. And that, and especially in the veteran spaces, it’s beyond the the truth because we don’t know everybody. But as we start creating this network and start helping others and advocating for other veterans, we start creating this network that eventually helps us get to where we’re currently at.

Mary Kate Soliva (03:29):

I love that. And you are definitely, I mean, that’s how I got to know who you are. And I’ve been like a super fan of yours just watching you from a distance in LinkedIn. We’ve never met in person, but we definitely have been walking around in the same, same room, same circles. And so the advocacy work that you’re doing is, is second to none. And I really admire that, which is why I would love to, to highlight the fact that you are from Puerto Rico and that’s actually where you’re at right now, right?

Alex Ortiz (03:59):

Currently, yes. And like we were talking offline, so if we do cut off, we’re, we’ve been having power issues and that’s just, oh my goodness. Something we deal with on, on a daily basis here in Puerto Rico is just one more thing that that gets added to it. But yes, I’m currently in Puerto Rico. I was two years ago, I was in Rhode Island and decided to come to law school here in Puerto Rico because we learn and we learn law and Spanish and English. So it’s, if I ever want to practice in Puerto Rico, it’s just gonna become easier to get barred in Puerto Rico. And also I could get barred in the States.

Mary Kate Soliva (04:32):

No, that’s fantastic. And again, and just highlighting the fact of your veteran piece as well, that you are an Army veteran. I wanted to take our listeners back ’cause I think your experience just as a whole is so unique and one that’s worth telling. So would you mind sharing a bit about where you grew up? And especially so many folks don’t hear anything about the territories, but even from even Guam or Puerto Rico, if you could share about your upbringing a little bit with us.

Alex Ortiz (05:00):

Definitely. So I’ll start, a lot of people, you often tell me when I tell ’em I’m from Puerto Rico, oh, but you don’t have that thick Hispanic accent <laugh> to speak in English. And I’m like, yeah, that’s because I was born in Brooklyn and I attended like kindergarten and first grade in Brooklyn. But then we ended up moving here to Puerto Rico and after that I started watching M T V just to catch up. So I grew up on WA and watching M T V watching music videos, that’s how I perfected kind of like my English. Um, so it was after that my mom started every three or four years. She would take me one year to to study in New York in Brooklyn. And then I would come back until sixth grade and after sixth grade. So we decided to settle in beta Puerto Rico.

Alex Ortiz (05:43):

Um, it’s about 25 minutes from San Juan, north north part of the island. Um, and it was a difficult upbringing. Um, my dad, he was a Navy vet, but from the Peruvian Navy and he was an older gentleman. And my mom being a little younger, she ended up taking care of, of me by herself until my dad passed away in 2008. But it was a complicated childhood because having old school parents and being on the island, I wasn’t exposed to much. Like I rarely left my city where I grew up. So, and that’s common. We didn’t, my mom didn’t drive, so we used public transportation, which on the island is something that’s a little bit desirable because we don’t, unless metro metropolitan area, like there’s no real good public transportation that’s reliable. I went to school within the area, so a radius was maybe 15, 20 miles and that’s where I grew up. The first fast food chain that I ever went to that was like a restaurant that I thought it was a big deal was Olive Garden <laugh>. And I laughed at what

Mary Kate Soliva (06:45):

<laugh> no, the unlimited breadsticks with,

Alex Ortiz (06:49):

Yeah, definitely. And I tried that when I was first stationed at Fort Carson in 2007, 2000. You were

Mary Kate Soliva (06:55):

Hooked. You were hooked ever since.

Alex Ortiz (06:57):

Definitely. Um,

Mary Kate Soliva (06:59):

No, I love that you said that with the fast food. ’cause I actually, uh, I was recently introduced to somebody from the uk well he came over to the States for the first time and I asked him like, what do you wanna do? And he is, I wanna go through all the, the fast food drive through. I wanna <laugh> like really that’s what you wanna do. You can do anything like in the us. And then, uh, that’s what he, that’s what he wanted, definitely tidbit, you know. And, and as far as like where you grew up with your dad being Navy, did you, was that a heavy military influence in your upbringing? I know it can be a mix. Sometimes the household’s no military influence, but sometimes there is.

Alex Ortiz (07:37):

So my dad was really strict and, but that was about it. He did his mandatory service because it was the Peruvian Navy and then he ended up, uh, doing the same work in the Brooklyn Navy yard. Um, but outside of the military as a civilian. So he was a machinist and he had been a machinist for almost 65 years. He was a machinist until three years before he passed away. So my dad had a lot of knowledge and experience and that hard work, dedication. It, it was that, that discipline to work. That’s one of the things that I mostly admired about him. But besides that, it was, it was a little rough upbringing. We had like a lot of the territories are usually encountered with natural disasters. So yeah, I’ve had my fair share of hurricanes, my fair share of earthquakes. And then every time they’re the financial depressions, those affect the territories a lot more too because there’s other things that are involved like the Jones Act. Absolutely. And it just makes it a lot worse. So being able to join the military and see there’s something more out there than just, you know, being here in the territory, more opportunities and being able to share those opportunities with family members and tell ’em, hey, like you should join the military because if you don’t see Puerto Rico as being like, like a stable place to be, then come join the military, then you can come back and everything you learn apply here and which is what a lot of us are doing.

Mary Kate Soliva (09:04):

Did you find that, as far as, do you remember that moment of you deciding that you wanted to join the Army? And I also have to ask why the army?

Alex Ortiz (09:13):

Right. So it as coming up, I, in my high school year, I was not the best student. I was having a lot of issues. It’s something I’m not proud of, proud about, but having a lot of, when there’s not a lot of opportunities, you tend to deviate from what, what you should be doing. And although I never got in in trouble with the law, I was like a little rebel. So I was like, you know what, I’m just gonna go to school, focus on gonna school. I became an automotive tech and when I graduated I realized that I didn’t have enough, I wasn’t making enough money. And I was like, this is not for, for me. We’re getting paid, we’re getting paid 4 75 an hour. And this was back in 2004. And I was like, 4 75 an hour is way below the minimum wage in the states.

Alex Ortiz (10:00):

This, I can’t do this. Like I can’t survive on this. Like I need a car, I need to more move out of my parents’ house. And I knew English. And so I decided, let me go talk to a recruiter and see. And then I got cold feet. When I got to the office the first time I was like, no, I’m not gonna do this <laugh>. So I go home, that was a Saturday. I go home and this was in 2005. So it was the height almost of, of the war in Iraq in Afghanistan. And I see this all be all you can be commercial. I was like, okay, that got me motivated. So I’ll go Monday and Monday between my lunchtime I went and took a quick ASVAB and they’re like, you have the highest score that we’ve seen in this area. It’s mainly because I spoke English. ’cause they all in Puerto Rico, not a lot of, not a lot of people. There’s new generation of, of I think after the millennials, like a lot of more people know English. Um, but back then that wasn’t the case and I was able to score a good asba. I had a good ASBA score. So they were excited about that. So I decided I’m just gonna join. I, I saw that commercial and that got me motivated to that. It was like uphill from there.

Mary Kate Soliva (11:12):

I know that’s, I had another guest Shirley buys in her episode, she talks about seeing a billboard with the advertisement. And so to just know that it is effective, that it’s working, that messaging there and, and getting us pumped up to uh, join the service. Of course I’m a little biased on being an army veteran, so can’t knock you there on that one. You chose the, the right branch there. Uh, well I have to ask, uh, as far as the ASVAB score, since you scored so high, what were your job options? I remember from once you wanna be a, you wanna be a cook, you wanna be a driver mechanic, <laugh>.

Alex Ortiz (11:48):

So I had all

Mary Kate Soliva (11:49):

Those options that

Alex Ortiz (11:50):

<laugh> definitely I had all those options. I also had, being a helicopter mechanic, I had intelligence 25 uniform. I also had a lot of the it stuff that I kind of regret not taking because now it has blown up.

Mary Kate Soliva (12:05):

Oh, you see it now, right? <laugh>? Yep.

Alex Ortiz (12:06):

Everywhere. I definitely see it now they’re like, oh, you could be a a 25 uniform. And I was like, ah, do I really wanna work with satellites and all that? I dunno. And now I see the value of being in, in signal, but I, I decided to be a mechanic. I just, I thought, you know, like this is, the Air Force didn’t really offer me to be like a wheel mechanic. I didn’t really want because I didn’t, I wasn’t sure about the military. My dad had been in the Peruvian Navy, but it was nothing like the, the, the armed forces here. Right. And I didn’t have that guidance. I didn’t have somebody tell me it’s gonna be all right. So I was going in blind. I had no idea what the military was. And I was like, well, at least I, I’ll know how to turn wrenches.

Alex Ortiz (12:47):

At least I I’ll be able to because I just went to school for this. And to me that was the best option I did because everything I learned in school, in the civilian world, I applied it in the military and I was, I love that. It was just, I sky my, my, my leadership. They saw the potential, they saw that I, I worked hard that I could actually fix vehicles. So <laugh>, it was great. Like I went to school to the wheel vehicle mechanic school and they were impressed, like, how do you know all this? And I was like, you know, I did this before. So they always taught me. And while I was there and they were like, since you know the basics, here’s the extras that you should know before you go to your unit so you could be successful. So even after I, I was joining, even after I, I decided to, um, be the mechanic. I had people since school mentoring me to become a better soldier for the unit.

Mary Kate Soliva (13:44):

I think that’s fantastic. And it’s interesting how that works where you walk into the room, I, I’ve heard numerous stories of, they wanted to go Air Force, but the Air force door was closed ’cause they were on lunch break or something. So they went across the hall. Just how those split second like moments end up really diverging, like really impacting somebody. I know when I walked in, I, I was actually interested in being a, a mechanic as well, like on helicopters or something. And literally the guy right in front of me took the last spot to do that. So it was kind of just like how that works, right, <laugh>, you’re like, okay, I guess I’ll go do this other job and learn what that is. And there’s even jobs that we’ve never heard of before. But you, I love the point about, like you said, about taking in what your mentor said, taking in what you learned in school as well to apply that. ’cause I think it’s such a missed opportunity that not all service members do that to be well-rounded or, or take seeking out that sort of mentorship and advice. So I’d love to take this opportunity if you wanted to shout out any names, uh, of any mentors that sort of took you under their wing, uh, during your, your time in service in the early days.

Alex Ortiz (14:51):

Man, that’s, it’s there, there’s a lot. There’s, and, and going back to my quote, we’re not self-made. There’s always people pouring into us. But I had, uh, Sergeant first Class Jacobs, um, sergeant First Class Moore, chief Weekly, chief Guthrie, chief Ballard. Now he was my squad leader at the time and now he, he became an warrant officer. So there, there was a lot of people that, that really put in the work and the effort to make sure that I was guided through the right path. Sometimes we do have leaders that are not the best that they could be. Sometimes it’s intentional, sometimes it’s not. But even if we take those bad experiences to make ourselves better, to become better leaders, uh, I always had that mindset, that positive mindset to, to look even at the bad things and, and try to process ’em on either how not to do them or make sure to I can identify to help others correct those issues.

Mary Kate Soliva (15:48):

Absolutely. And and I knew, just as you were saying that, I was already having my own flashbacks and reflection too of some of the leaders that have been hard on me. But I was able to learn so much from them as well. You could, like anyone, even if you’re not military, any of our listeners, you probably relate to a teacher or a coach who was really hard on you. But just some of the anecdotes and lessons learned there. So getting into with your, how many years did you end up serving in the Army?

Alex Ortiz (16:15):

So it was about, uh, six and a couple months, I think over like six or seven, six years to seven months, almost seven. I was medically retired because being a mechanic was, it was a little rough on my body, so

Mary Kate Soliva (16:29):

No way. What do you mean <laugh>? <laugh>

Alex Ortiz (16:33):

Especially down in the combat zone, sometimes you have to, did you

Mary Kate Soliva (16:36):

Ever end up in the cold? Like I just, I don’t, when I see mechanics and there’s 10 feet of snow outside, I’m like, how can you do that? Well, especially the garages don’t keep the temp that well.

Alex Ortiz (16:46):

Yeah, I see. I was fortunate because I, although I got stationed at Fort Drum in New York,

Mary Kate Soliva (16:52):

Winter Survival

Alex Ortiz (16:54):

<laugh>. Yeah. So I was at Carson and then I went from bad to worse. Oh

Mary Kate Soliva (16:58):

No.

Alex Ortiz (16:59):

But it was a little challenging. But, uh, since I was in aviation, I was a little bit more, I would say catered. We had heated bays and that we could fix the vehicles, but we still had to shovel a couple feet of snow to clear the way out for the vehicles, make sure they were maintained, make sure they were weatherproofed, um,

Mary Kate Soliva (17:16):

Heated garage. You you say thank you taxpayers,

Alex Ortiz (17:20):

<laugh> definitely they aviation too, because they have a little bit more money. That’s so we used to have, and it was, I, I think it was the perfect place for me to grow too, because we were a lot less NCOs and a lot more officers. You had a lot of rotary warrant officers that there were pilots and we had a lot of, so it was a time of empowerment, I would say, and take this time to learn, take take this time to develop yourself as a leader, but also learn your job and become proficient at it. And we did that really well. Like my unit and the guys that I deployed with, we left Iraq in 2000, I think it was 2009, with orders to go to Afghanistan to deploy at the end of 2010. Like our equipment got back and we were unpacking it, cleaning it, repacking it, and shipping it out. Like that was our dwell time, I think was like 11 months and like 20, 22 days. It was crazy. Our unit was proficient and I think it boiled down to the leadership that we had. It was great. It was a great experience

Mary Kate Soliva (18:22):

Now and I love that. And and you highlighted too about, um, Fort Drum, which I’ve heard is lovingly the black hole of the army, um, and then going to Carson. Um, but I love that you actually got to go to other military installations as well because some folks, like, especially in my, my job in the Army, they tend to stay at Fort Liberty down in Ville, North Carolina. And that’s, they’re there for like 16 years. So you got that aspect. Did you have a, a family at that point? Were you also moving them around as well?

Alex Ortiz (18:53):

So I was dual military at one point in my life and it was a little challenging, but I had to reenlist so we wouldn’t get separated and those sacrifices sometimes go unheard. I didn’t want to stay at Fort Drum. That was the only time that the fence dropped. And I was able, H R C was like, Hey, you have all these other options like Italy. But she was going to school to be a, become a a 92 Yankee supply specialist. And, and I had to reenlist. So that was rough because that <laugh> Yeah. Having to reenlist the state of Drummond that needs of the Army is versus being able to go to Italy or go to Germany. Our, our m o s was really flexible. We were able to go to a lot of places. I think at one point even Japan opened up, there was a lot of positioning openings for ranger battalions. So there were a lot of exci exciting positions that were opening up. But I had to reenlist to go back into the dark hole <laugh>

Mary Kate Soliva (19:50):

In the name of love.

Alex Ortiz (19:52):

Yeah, definitely.

Mary Kate Soliva (19:54):

No, but I, I, I asked that piece because you’re absolutely right that we don’t, it’s, it’s not the brighter side of service, the sacrifice that our families make and our, our loved ones make. So, you know, behind our, our career, our successful career in the military are these incredible mentors, like the ones you mentioned, but also, uh, the love and support of our family at home. And so even dual military can be especially difficult and challenging. So I appreciate you sharing that, just how you were able to, to navigate and make that decision together, that even though it wasn’t an exotic location for Drummond New York, that you chose to do that for the, the sake of, of your family. So just talk it to me about, I know you mentioned about the med getting med boarded with regards to your transition. Um, how did you feel ready to transition? How, how did that look for you

Alex Ortiz (20:47):

For Yeah, so that was, it was interesting because I was getting me board in, in 2012 and the army and I, I think my adv advocacy journey started with me because I knew I had issues and my doctors were like, you don’t have nothing here. Here’s some, um, Motrin or Tylenol. Like we talk, take a knee and drink water. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that’s what we always hear. That’s the ongoing joke forever. And sometimes you believe it, you’re like, okay, I’m just sore from just running six miles. I’m sore from being, having to move this transmission for this vehicle. I, but I can’t take a break ’cause I don’t have any leave. So at one point I believed the whole thing, but it was getting continuously worse. So the reality is that at that point they wouldn’t send me to get MRIs. It wasn’t needed. I just needed to suck it up.

Alex Ortiz (21:35):

And I was like, it’s not right until after a run, like my whole back, I could have moved my legs, it was really bad. And come to find out that I had seven herniated discs and the doctor was like, about, you’re about to become handicapped, like, what’s going on? So I took those MRIs from the emergency room. They told me you should be on bed rest for two weeks. So I took all those recommendations and my wife at the time, she helped me get to sick call and be like, Hey doc, look, this is what’s going on. He is, oh wow. So I know he felt bad and I don’t know if that was a decis decisive moment in his career too as a medical doctor in the military, but he saw the gravity of it. So he apologized and he made sure that I was taken care of from there on.

Alex Ortiz (22:23):

And I got a, a temporary profile until we went through the process and they did all the analysis they had to do. They sent me to Syracuse Hospital to make sure that if there was any type of rehabilitation that I can take, and they were like, like, you’re done. If you keep doing this, you’re gonna have to do a spinal fusion. We’re potentially gonna have to fuse your whole spine all the way up to your cervical. So I was like, I don’t want that. What are my options? And they’re like, we can med board you. And I was like, I don’t know what that is, but let’s go that route. And they were, he was like, well, you get, if you’re approved, you’ll get medically retired. And I was like, I need to get better because all I’ve known my whole life is work with my hands and be a mechanic.

Alex Ortiz (23:05):

And I never thought about continuing my education or doing anything else beyond that. So everything I knew and that I had become professional to that point completely came to a halt. What am I supposed to do now? And, and during that time, tap wasn’t what it is today and tap still has a a little bit further to go, but it was definitely not to, to tell you more, I started tap about a year before I was gonna get med boarded and I feel like everything was pencil whipped. Just check this, here’s how to write a resume, you know? And, and

Mary Kate Soliva (23:41):

For our listeners it’s the transition Transition Assistance program. Yes. Right?

Alex Ortiz (23:47):

Yep. So

Mary Kate Soliva (23:47):

To tap, to help you, uh, transition, you just brought up like such an important piece and I, I was like, gosh, I should just like pause and just absorb everything that you just said the last few minutes because that is such a critical part of the transition piece is the fact that you mentioned that’s all you knew how to do. Like work with your hands, be a mechanic, that was your knowledge. And now without your own choice or not much of a choice, they’re like, now you gotta get out. And you’re like, what am I gonna do? And so it it’s like where does the responsibility fall? We just say, Saara, good luck. Have a good life. Or what’s the responsibility of the military? Who, who beat you down <laugh>, so to speak, you know, and put your body through all of that. So I know it’s like you said, it’s improved so much compared to when you transitioned, but where did you end up seeking that? Did you have to go through veteran service organizations? Like we know there’s so many now. Did you know about them? Did they help you at that time? How, how did that go at that moment?

Alex Ortiz (24:45):

So I feel like I was in, I think at the peak of people getting out, ’cause President Obama at the time had said like, we’re withdrawing everybody from Afghanistan. I was the second to last unit aviation unit to leave Afghanistan. And so we, it was a little difficult like I mentioned before, and, and I kind of wanna highlight this too, because that’s all I knew and I had become proficient at it. And now I’m lost. I don’t know what to do. I’m starting to feel depressed. I’m starting to feel that I don’t have a purpose because any applause or any good job you did great today was because I was a good mechanic and being able to being, having that taken away from me and while also putting a, a, a chronic disability that I now have that I could barely move. The pain is so much.

Alex Ortiz (25:37):

I don’t know how to deal with this. I can’t run anymore. I used to consume a lot of calories and now I can’t because I don’t burn them. But now I’m also gaining weight. So it, it’s just like this whole stage of just starting to go downhill. And at that point in, in, in my career, and I, I feel like in the military in general, people are starting to get out because they can’t handle more deployments. All these constant deployments are just putting toes on your body. So I feel like d o d in, in, in a hole talking to other people that got out during time wasn’t ready to transition military service members out of the military. It’s hard. There, there was nothing in place. The va I feel like wasn’t, wasn’t ready for the influx also of us having all these disability and all these issues.

Alex Ortiz (26:28):

Like for me to get physical therapy was a nightmare. And I left New York, uh, for a drum and then I moved to, to Phoenix and then that’s when the whole Phoenix VA fiasco like popped up. Um, so they were pumping and I could say this, you know, um, because I used to take a lot of morphine for my pain. Yeah. And that was the, the issue for my problem. Like here’s painkillers at and at a and a point was great because it would take the temporary problem and and eliminate it, but my body was still, my back was still getting worse. And having that issue where I, you’re taking the pay away, sure, I could do more things now. I could walk to school. I don’t have to have a cane, I don’t have to, I could do physical therapy again because the pain’s out there, but when the pills were off, the pain came like 10 x and now I have to pop another pill.

Alex Ortiz (27:25):

And, and I feel like that was one of the, the problems that the Phoenix VA had and being there and, and having President Obama come down because people were dying at the Phoenix va, but the transition from the active boot and all this influx of service members just flooding va, I think the two organizations weren’t ready to handle either leaving the military and accepting all these new veterans that were coming into to the VA system. So I, I feel that, and in some points, I did have some great doctors at the VA in Phoenix, but uh, the, the VA and d o D could have done a better job of transitions. And I believe that those are lessons learned as part of our advocacy is to highlight these issues so they don’t happen again. And we put laws in place for them not to happen.

Alex Ortiz (28:14):

But I wanted to highlight that because it was a rough time for us to transition. I had a couple friends that were through the same issue and now are having, they’re still having economic issues and, and they haven’t taken advantage of the services that, that they didn’t know they had. And like you asked before, I didn’t have a V SS O that was there part in the transition assistance program. Like there are now where you have all these tables where all these great employers and you have hiring our heroes, you have all these other organizations that are just because they learned from the mistakes they made with us. And we didn’t have any of that stuff. And a lot of my guys are still lost. A lot of them are still writing recommendations. And there’s nothing wrong with becoming a blue collar worker. But when you tell me I want to study, but I don’t know where to start, then I know there’s still a problem in the system.

Alex Ortiz (29:05):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative> because yeah, you’re taking care of the ones coming out now. But what happens to the ones that came that, you know, that are coming out from 2012 to now? For example, these guys, if they, their GI bill’s expiring and they didn’t know about making life decisions because they thought they had percent benefits and their GI bill expired because they had their del eliminating date. Those are all things that a lot of service members still don’t know about. And sometimes just sending a letter. Sure. The VA says, the law says you have to notify these service members with letters, but who reads these letters? Like really? If we’re honest, yeah, they’re, they’re meeting the law and it’s up to the service member to read the letter. But the reality is that we could potentially take some of that money and, and do a, a small campaign on either social media or investigate what’s the best way to disseminate this information.

Mary Kate Soliva (30:00):

No, I, you, you very well said. And the thing that I also caught in on what you were saying was the different eras of veterans as well. We have a dear family friend of ours, he’s a Vietnam veteran, but he wasn’t diagnosed with P T S D, excuse me, until 2016 Vietnam era. And so not knowing one that he, he had access to those things, but just even how, like where to start, what, what’s available for me? Because there’s a lot of veteran service organizations out there that offer the, these nonprofits that offer great support, but they won’t help the other eras. It’ll just be post nine 11 veteran. And, and I actually, ’cause I came across a a, I met a Cold War veteran. She was like, I need help with employment, I need help with this, that, and the other, and my resume.

Mary Kate Soliva (30:48):

And I sent her to a couple organizations and she called me back. I was like, right, they won’t help me ’cause I’m Cold War. I’m not a post nine 11. And so it was like where their funding is at. And so we don’t categories like just veteran, but we’re, they’re putting us in different like classifications so to speak. And then the va it’s unfortunately of why we’ve lost so many that killed themselves right in the VA parking lot that have just been out on the hill, knock beating on the door, demanding different things that the policy changes. But there’s folks like you Alex, that are really being such a, an incredible mouthpiece and advocate. And I, I just wanna know if you could share with our listeners, anyone who may be transitioning, what’s your advice for them? Because you said it, it’s, it’s a lot, it can be overwhelming. You’re balancing medical appointments, physical therapy, as well as your transition. You just, we just think about, okay, I’m just focused on transition, but you were focused on all the other pieces. How do I learn a new job skill? How do I get, I gotta get my body back where it needs to be? What what’s your advice to those who are in transition right now?

Alex Ortiz (31:52):

I would say searching online is the best tool that you can get there. Now you have all these social media groups. There’s social media groups for chapter 31, educational benefits, chapter 33, disability of Veterans on Facebook. You have all this plethora of knowledge. Obviously you have to filter it out, but it’s doing your own research. We do have help. You can go talk to A V S O, either American Legion, V F W, any d a B, any other of these organizations. They’re gonna sit down with you and help you at least establish your claim if you need benefits from the va. But it goes beyond that. There’s so much help out there that we really don’t know about. And I would like to highlight this quickly because for example, Puerto Rico’s been through national create national natural disasters like Hurricane Maria and Congress said, look, if the G SS A has surplus equipment like office supplies, desks, books, paper, whatever, they have extra veteran small owned businesses that reside there in Puerto Rico that go through a natural disaster.

Alex Ortiz (33:02):

They can get all this surplus for free through the S B A. And as I’m doing research, doing advocacy in Puerto Rico, I find this, I’m like, nobody’s talking about this. So why don’t the the small business that that we do have, how come they don’t know this information? So a lot of laws get created and a lot of advocacy happens, but the information doesn’t go out there. So if you’re not looking for the inform, we can’t depend on holding the SBOs accountable to help us because they’re service organizations, they’re volunteers most of the time. Yeah. At at the level that we get help where they’re volunteers, obviously we have our our national advocates that and national leaders that are out there. But every, in every town in every city that we have VSOs, they’re all volunteers. So we can’t expect for them to give us all the tools.

Alex Ortiz (33:52):

We also have to go out there and find them and get ’em ourselves. It the same way we search a recipe for, uh, a home cooked meal that we want to do on, on any search engine, we could do the same thing or what benefits are there for 90%, uh, disabled veterans or 60% disabled veterans and learn those things. What is vocational rehabilitation and what is the GI bill? And I have a little funny anecdote because when I transitioned from from Rhode Island to Puerto Rico to come to law school, I had to, I became aware of the retroactive induction and none of my counselors here in Puerto Rico had done it, a retroactive induction. So I had to read the chapter 31 manual for the M 28 C and kind of say, no, this is my right. This is what I’m entitled for. And here’s in the regulation, can you please look it up and talk to your supervisor to see if that helps. And these people, sometimes we get mad at them, but we have to realize also one counselor is taking care of 130 students throughout a semester. So these numbers, we don’t have a one-to-one dedicated person that’s gonna help us. And

Mary Kate Soliva (35:00):

Everybody’s so different, right? Like what everybody’s needs are, whether they have like a elderly parent at home, like the caregiver or someone with special needs or the inju like you said, injured. There’s a, beyond just veteran, there’s like the other aspect of that. Or is their spouse, does their spouse need employment and certifications? Maybe they’ve been unemployed for taking care of the kids for years. And so there’s resources available for them and the certifications. I, I wanna, you’re such an incredible advocate, not just for the V F W and with the benefits available, but also as a student veteran. And you talked about having to learn, learn that new skill besides being a mechanic. So could you, could you talk to us a little bit about student Veterans of America and, and what sort of led you to that path?

Alex Ortiz (35:48):

So it’s funny because in 2014 I was going to Grand Canyon University in Arizona and there was a student Veterans of America chapter there. Um, but I didn’t really want to get too involved with, I didn’t want to know nothing about the military. I had a sour taste about the military and the whole transition and the va and I was like, I don’t want nothing to do with that. And I think that was the biggest mistake that I could’ve made because the support was there from the beginning. And then I fast forward to the pandemic. I didn’t finish my degree. I had one class left and the pandemic happens. We end up moving back to Rhode Island from Puerto Rico and I decide, okay, I wanna go back to school. And when I come back to school, like you said earlier, I had reached out to a school and they said they never answered, but Rhode Island College answered immediately.

Alex Ortiz (36:35):

And I was like, well, I’m going with you guys ’cause I need to get enrolled for this semester, so I’ll finish my accounting degree with you guys. And that was the biggest blessing that could ever happen. Sometimes we think that door closes, but doors and windows are opening everywhere for us. We just have to figure out how to get in. And I met Lisa EVAs over there and she was such a great asset because she said, you look like you have potential, but you want to start up the Student Veterans of America chapter. And I’m like, well, I heard about it and I’ll participated in it, so sure, why not? Let’s, let’s go all in, let’s and start a chapter. And we started and we ended up having from I believe 15 to 20, uh, student veterans interested. Um, we started the chapter with Rocky because it was in the middle of the pandemic. We still couldn’t meet. It had to be virtual, but we would be able to hang out in the military resource center. You

Mary Kate Soliva (37:27):

Created that community though, Alex, like at a time in, in our lifetime. That was such a, an important aspect that we were longing for, right. Was that human connection. Definitely. And we didn’t realize how much we missed it until everything shut down and we had to distance from ourselves. But you created that sense of community.

Alex Ortiz (37:46):

It was, and it was a little challenging because also getting people, as some of us missed that human connection, there was others that really loved just being remote, I just want to be home. And it was a challenging time to get students, but as the rules were relaxing a little bit, it became more evident. But I was transitioning out of that position. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, however, the student veteran of America, I attended the first night icon that was virtual. I attended the regional summit that was virtual. I attended the Leadership Institute, I attended that virtual too for the first time. And then I was nominated for a student veteran of the year for way Katherine. And it was Martinez,

Mary Kate Soliva (38:28):

Katherine Martinez from our other Veteran Voices episode. Could you go, just in case this is the first episode for listeners, could you do a just a quick intro to what SS v A is?

Alex Ortiz (38:38):

So SS v a is, I believe, the best <laugh> organization for student veterans. That that’s out there because they just help you navigate, uh, everything that has to do with your time as a student veteran. I, I think being able to identify who you are and what you are and what your strengths are and how you can build that community is, it’s one of the best things that S B A can do, right? Because it has so many, it, like me highlighting something would be doing injustice to everything else that they also do <laugh>. But you know, they put you in in places where you never thought you could be. And they’ll, the connections that you make, um, from the c e o from LY down, everybody’s there to help you connect with whatever you want to do. If you want to be in the space industry, if you want to be in, in biotech or it, or even if you’re a mechanic for a aeronautical mechanic or a car mechanic, there’s a s v a chapters everywhere. And when you get to meet all these great people, all these great leaders, there’s no rank structure in terms of like, you don’t have all, or either NCOs or captains. Like it doesn’t matter. Like in in our chapter we have company commander, we have a major, we have a lieutenant colonel. And the same like, we’re just

Mary Kate Soliva (39:57):

<crosstalk>. We have the same level, right? And different years of experience. And you recognized about being recognized about being a nominated for student veteran of the year. But there’s also the chapters that I remember when Georgetown was recognized as well and we just hit the, that anniversary, the, the withdrawal from Afghanistan and how Georgetown and the s v a chapters that were getting together and gathering, putting together care packages for all those that were coming over into the states and this new country where they don’t maybe don’t know anybody have limited resources. And the chapters like gathered together just in incredible about how it’s just the ideas, right? So it’s like you, you think it, you dream it, you got, you can make it happen. And that’s why he loves that. You mentioned the level of playing field. ’cause one of the values when I is an SS v A as well <laugh>, when I, in my chapter when I, and I didn’t know anything about it when I first joined, and especially with so many of the student veterans being virtual, it was challenging.

Mary Kate Soliva (40:53):

Um, but yeah, I I love that you highlighted that. There’s just so much more than what we’re seeing right now in this episode. So really encourage the listeners to really look into SS V A and if it does, if there doesn’t exist one in your school that you can be that one like Alex to start it. I did want to spend, I know we’re closing in on our hour here Alex, but I really wanted to get into as well the advocacy work that you’re doing. Like I had Catherine another episode talking about SS v a, but the work that you’re doing, I feel is quite different than what other folks are doing out there. And uh, just wanted to give you this platform to talk about some of the initiatives that you’re working on. ’cause ’cause maybe somebody out there that’s listening may wanna reach out and to support what you’re doing.

Alex Ortiz (41:38):

Definitely. So I’ll go quickly a little bit back. I did the S V A V F W legislative fellowship and that spawned something that I never thought I’d be in a space in, which is, like you mentioned advocacy. That was one of the great things that, that I was part of while I was at the S V A. And while I was trying to choose a law school, uh, I, I had options in Boston and Massachusetts and North Carolina. Wow. But Puerto Rico was also an option. And I was like, well we already have a house in Puerto Rico. The economy’s not doing that great, everything’s expensive, let’s just go back home. And I kind of regretted that decision the first semester I was here, but I was also doing advocacy. So I was like, there’s a couple injustices here in Puerto Rico, like why is that?

Alex Ortiz (42:22):

Let me see what are the state local laws that affect this? Because now I have all this background knowledge that I gained through the S V A B F W legislator Fellowship and it was like opening a door in a dark room and I just have a little candle. I’m walking there like when you’re playing video games and you start unlocking different parts of the map and it kind of feels that way. And I’m, I had just have a little candle ’cause it’s just me. And I started seeing all these laws, but they can’t be enforced because we have the fiscal, um, management of fiscal financial management oversight board. And I know I just butchered that name, but it’s long. That sounds right

Mary Kate Soliva (43:02):

To me, obviously

Alex Ortiz (43:05):

Something and it, but what they’re doing is they’re trying to keep Puerto Rico going bankrupt. And for those that don’t know, Puerto Rico is a US territory, but it is an unincorporated US territory because the Supreme Court said it is not because Congress said it is. So a lot of the constitution only applies to Puerto Rico where congress says it does. And that has be, you know, it has become an issue because just because veterans are entitled to a benefit in the states, unless it’s implicitly added, the territories are added, we’re not included. And that comes with a, a plethora of other issues. Like for example, how is Puerto Rico considered a state for some things and not for another? And one of those examples is the overseas housing allowance. So if you’re active duty in Puerto Rico, it could be a g r, you get a stipend for you, you get your housing allowance, but if you don’t use it all, you have to give it back.

Alex Ortiz (44:05):

Like the, those things. How is that fair when the national, that also the national average is like 22, 20 $300 and Puerto Rico’s $1,900 and here things are 30% more expensive. Like I mentioned before the Jones Act, I start seeing all these injustices, I’m like, okay, it is just me. How can I build the network to help me? And the only way I found to do that was just reaching out on LinkedIn, start writing about it. And I started writing about these issues and I didn’t think it was gonna get the traction that I did. I met you, I met, I’ve met a whole bunch of other VSOs and highly engaged individuals that are willing to help. And now we’re building this team. So we cannot just address the issues of Puerto Rico, but also the territories because we’re all in the same boat. And, and it’s sad.

Alex Ortiz (44:59):

And one thing that I I would like to highlight is that in Puerto Rico, we’re projected to lose 80% of our veterans by in the next, by 2037. So the next 17 to 18 years we’re gonna lose almost 60,000 veterans. And mostly it’s gonna be because either old age or they’re gonna pass away or they’re just gonna move out because there’s better benefits in the states. So the VA invest in Puerto Rico about $2.1 billion a year in indirectly. And that’s to take care of 83,000 veterans that we have here. And I, I think the, the state government should start doing something about it to mitigate the risk of losing all these veterans. ’cause we’re gonna lose hospitals, we’re gonna lose benefits to be able to purchase houses that veterans have a big spending power here in Puerto Rico. So it, it’s not just gonna affect veterans, but it’s gonna affect 3.5 million people living on the island.

Mary Kate Soliva (45:55):

Wow. No, Alex, just, this is such a great call to action there because I, I find it too often there’s this data and the information is just buried and it’s just, it’s there, but it’s not being amplified in the media and the attention span of folks these days, they wanna get behind something and they wanna get behind a cause. Um, that’s why I’m, I’m really just encouraging folks to get and stand behind you, stand alongside with you on what you’re doing because you are doing the hard, tedious work that a lot of folks are not doing, which is doing your research. Um, it, it is just easy to reshare and forward information. We see those, the headline hooks about, oh, they gave funding. Um, we had Typhoon mooring and Guam earlier this year and it took over a month for folks to get their power back on.

Mary Kate Soliva (46:44):

And it was, I remember one headline, it was saying like how they gave them X amount of money, but then if you look at like the tiny print, it was only for military families. It wasn’t for the general public. So it’s like you look at the finer details, you’re doing your research, like what you added about Supreme Court versus what Congress is doing that incredible. And so what is that call to action of how folks can get involved? Because as you mentioned, I end up getting a plethora of this huge network of people that are like Mary Kate, what more can I do? What, what can we do? And so asking you Alex, yeah,

Alex Ortiz (47:18):

<laugh>, uh, the biggest thing is for us at unincorporated territories is we don’t have representation in Congress. Um, and this is a big deal. We have one representative, we have no representation in the Senate. We have zero votes outside of the committees. Um, my congresswoman, she takes care of 3.5 million people, which no other representative in the states has that amount of constituents under their responsibility. She has to take care of all of us plus the veterans, plus everybody else that needs her. And that’s, she doesn’t have the, the first, the help that she needs in terms of being able to advocate for all of us. Like you said, the hard work is doing the research and I bring the research to her and then she’s able to take this message up and she does because like, okay, I’m making her job a little easier by bringing her the information.

Alex Ortiz (48:15):

But if people in the states and anybody that’s listening, you can talk to your representatives, your senators and say, Hey, could you take a look at Puerto Rico and the veterans or just the general population in general because they’re the ones that can, they’re the ones that we have to convince. Like, I have to go and advocate not to my representative ’cause she can’t vote. I have to somebody from the state or somebody from the state of California or somebody from the state of Texas. And they’re like, well who are you? Why should I be interested in helping you? And well, I’m like, I don’t have anybody else. And you’re the one that votes. Congress is the one that votes if we get to determine if we wanna be independent or become a state, right? So I have to come to you. Nobody’s paying for that.

Alex Ortiz (49:02):

I don’t service organizations that are, if you see any of the full markup committees, there’s nobody talking about the territories. Like, and, and Sally, that is the truth. There’s a lot of issues, there’s a lot of laws pertaining veterans, for example, pertaining us that full markup hearings. I listen to them all the time and I’m like, well that affects Puerto Rico, how come we’re not having a voice here? Well, I know for sure that, uh, affects Guam. Like why is nobody talking about us? And I think it’s because we’re not letting ourselves be heard. And if we let our C heard and, uh, a lot of the, the Big nine VSOs take a little bit more interest in, in giving us a hand, I think like we can solve these issues and at least we don’t want more things. We just want what everybody gets in the mainland.

Alex Ortiz (49:49):

If we could get the equal treatment, we talk about equality and equity. If we could bring that to the territories, I can guarantee you. Another quick fact is that Puerto Rico has deployed the National Guard over 18,000 times. That’s more than 23 states since 2001. And we, we’ve given more bodies to the military since, since 1954. I, I could go back more, but I’ll use 1954 to military college. We have over 350,000 veterans out there. And in Puerto Rico we only have 83. And they’re the old generation, like the draft generation, everybody else is in the states. If you’re out there and you’re listening and you, you want to help just talk to your representatives and your senators and tell ’em, Hey, take a look at Puerto Rico. You guys get involved with Puerto Rico and talk to their representative because we really need the help.

Mary Kate Soliva (50:38):

Gosh, yes. That’s yes and yes, uh, getting the, the help, like you say, we’re not asking for more and I’m throwing we, ’cause just throwing Guam in there as well. And as you mentioned about how we have served, uh, I think the article came out earlier this year in New York Times about Guam being the, the forgotten part of forgotten Americans. We, we are Americans and, and I know it’s varies like with regards to the territories, like you said, whether it’s unincorporated, not all the territories are the same either. And we have different, different needs, but we are often clumped into that. So just doing your homework, doing your due diligence, but knowing that you have a voice, and I’m seeing this like our listeners, that you have a voice that you can also be an ally even if you’re not from the territories, that you can also do a reach back, invite folks like Alex to, to come speak and educate at your conference on your panel.

Mary Kate Soliva (51:37):

Because like you said, there’s that fine print. And I straight up had an agent tell me one time when I was talking about, you know, the human rights and about the lack of laws on this, that and the other. And he was like, it’s because you don’t have a, a voting seat in Congress. Like that’s, at the end of the day, that’s what it is because they’re, when it comes to budget, these things take cost money. And so getting the, that equal treatment I had in an aunt in Guam when she lost her beloved husband who was a Navy veteran, those benefits like immediately turned off for her. Even though she’s the surviving spouse and they and the surviving widow. And they don’t tell you like in the fine print that it’s now they have to wait to examine to what was the cause of his death as as the veteran.

Mary Kate Soliva (52:16):

And so in that time, that’s causing strain on the surviving spouse on the family because they were so used to having that income, that benefit coming in and now was shut off. And so it takes so much longer to get the support that they need because they’re so out of sight, out of mind. They can’t just take a drive down to, to DC and go knock on their congressman’s door. So as, as easy as is and the fact that you, Alex said you’re enlisted, you’re a mechanic, and now you are directly handing documentation to your government leaders like mic drop. I mean, it just goes to show rank aside, title aside, Alex, you’re making it happen. You’re doing it, and incredibly proud of you. And it’s been a pleasure knowing you and just seeing what you’re doing. How can people, like, I just, I, that was such a great ending for your message there, but I know you have so much more to say. Do you have, as we wrap up, sort of final, final thoughts there on, on how folks can get involved, how they can reach you, things that they can do now?

Alex Ortiz (53:21):

I think the, the best place is LinkedIn because we don’t have like a structured organization. This is just like me and a couple of other VSOs locally doing the, the legwork. But you could reach me through LinkedIn, um, um, Alex Ortiz, Rosa, you’ll see a picture looks like me. It has a little orange background, so I made it easier to identify. Um, but definitely, um, it’s something that, and I don’t know if you guys have the capability of, of putting, but if you can, um, you can

Mary Kate Soliva (53:48):

Put, yeah, we can add it

Alex Ortiz (53:49):

On, on the video, that’d be great. Just reach out and say, Hey, ask me how I can help. And I, I’ll, trust me, there’s hundreds of ways that people can help indirectly. It doesn’t take a lot of time. Sometimes I’ll, I could even pre-write the email so you could send to your representative. I’m willing to go that extra step because we need any help we can get at this point.

Mary Kate Soliva (54:10):

And do you see that, is there any low hanging fruit that you see, Alex, that is an immediate call to action, maybe to any sort of leaders that are maybe listening to this episode? Like what’s the, is there any easy wins right now? And maybe easy is not the right word, but low hanging fruit. I know you said projecting that there’s some things that are gonna take years and years of discussion and to make happen, but is there anything that you’re as, Hey, why aren’t we doing this already since yesterday? Yeah,

Alex Ortiz (54:37):

Definitely. I think that the o h A portion of, for our local reservists that they get activated, O h a hasn’t changed in seven years now. It’s been a specific set, but throughout this whole inflation process, throughout these high interest rates, the service members are having to give up the quality of life that they would have outside the military to be able to accommodate to the, the below average income that they’re getting for the overseas housing allowance. And not only that, we also have 6,000 veterans. That Department of Veteran Affairs has said, okay, we’re gonna pay your b a H rate at the o h A level ’cause you’re overseas. How are we overseas? We’re literally in Puerto Rico <laugh>. I think that could be something that could easily be fixed. And there’s the, you don’t even need legislation for that. Just the e l d doing its part and then VA putting out a rule, they have the capability to do it. Those two things would help close to 10,000, uh, service members and veterans, student veterans. And that’s something they could do without legislation that could easily be done with a couple signatures. So I, I would start there.

Mary Kate Soliva (55:45):

Fantastic. All right, so the Secretary McDonough and who else is there? <laugh>? Um, but that’s, thank you so much, uh, Alex, uh, for taking the time today and encourage all our listeners to connect with Alex on LinkedIn. We’ll be sure to share his contact information so you can reach out. But join, because there’s a lot of exciting things. Alex is a super connector and wealth of knowledge and appreciate your time Alex. So with that, we’re gonna wrap up our episode. Again, you can get Veteran Voices podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts from. We’re part of, probably part of the supply chain now, family and supply chain now podcast as well as our proud partners. Shout out to Military Women’s Collective at military women’s collective.org and the Guam Human Rights initiative@guamhri.org. So with that, this is Mary Kate Saliva, your host, and, uh, we hope to see you back here next time. Do good and be the change that’s needed. Thanks.