Rafael Escoto Roa, US Air Force
VetsinTech Palo Alto Networks EDU 210, August 2018
I am Rafael Escoto Roa. I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic where I resided until moving to the United States at 19 years old.
I joined the US Air Force shortly after moving to this great country and have served as active duty since then with duty assignments in Florida, Delaware, Korea, Texas, Spain, Germany, and California. I have deployed overseas several times. I began my military career as a Logistics Technician after which I transferred to cybersecurity. Currently I am an Air Transportation Airman serving as an Air Trans/Cybersecurity Advisor with Latin America as my area of responsibility (AOR).
Technology has been a passion all my life. The military has helped me obtain great education on this field and I have experienced plenty of hours of on the job training.
I saw some incredible fellow Airmen leave the military without a plan for a follow on career. Some struggled with the process. Observing this, I wanted to get ahead of the curve. I completed the transition program offered by DoD and I actively pursued every available resource. This is how I landed on VetsinTech. I connected over LinkedIn and enrolled in the first class I could: Palo Alto Networks EDU 210, cybersecurity training in Santa Clara, CA.
VIT helped grow my network quickly. After, just my first class, I have been contacted about job opportunities in the tech industry by people I would have otherwise never met.
Sure, like all vets transitioning into the civilian world, there are stressors. But having contacts and knowing knowing people that can help me get a job makes it much more manageable. VetsinTech is in my corner and I am not alone on this journey. I could not imagine my transition without their assistance. All veterans who are technologically inclined should be involved with this organization and take advantage of all their free training and other services.