America’s Navy awards $360K in Scholarships to San Antonio Twins

Photo By Burrell Parmer | SAN ANTONIO – (May 25, 2021) Twin brothers Cadets Lt. Col. Kalvin and 1st Lt. Kelvin Rodriguez Rivera, of San Antonio, both seniors attending Highlands High School, were awarded Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Scholarships in the amount of $180,000 each during a special presentation held at the school. Presenting the awards were Naval Aviators Capt. Davis Koss, of Orange Park, Fla., chairman of Naval Science at the University of Texas and Lt. Maressa Guynn, of Uniontown, Penn., an aviation instructor at the university where the twins will attend in the fall. The Navy offers several scholarship programs to help pay for school so a person can enjoy a normal college life and focus on their studies before starting a career in the Navy. Through these programs, a person will enter the Navy in a leadership position as a commissioned officer. Officers in the Navy have responsibilities that include anything from low-level management to the highest levels of command. For more information about the NROTC Scholarship program, visit www.navy.com. Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) San Antonio’s area of responsibility includes two Talent Acquisition Onboarding Centers (TAOC) which manage more than 34 Navy Recruiting Stations and Navy Officer Recruiting Stations spread throughout 144,000 square miles of Central and South Texas territory. (U.S. Navy photo by Burrell Parmer, NTAG San Antonio Pubilc Affairs/Released)  

SAN ANTONIO, TX, UNITED STATES

05.25.2021

Story by Burrell Parmer 

Commander, Navy Recruiting Command

SAN ANTONIO – (May 25, 2021) Twin brothers Cadets Lt. Col. Kalvin and 1st Lt. Kelvin Rodriguez Rivera, of San Antonio, both seniors attending Highlands High School, were awarded Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Scholarships during a special presentation held at the school.

The NROTC Scholarship, valued at up to $180,000, pays for the cost of full tuition, books and other educational fees at many of the country’s leading colleges and universities. Upon graduation, midshipmen are commissioned as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Both brothers will be attending the University of Texas majoring in aerospace engineering.

“Being able to serve my country in the future while receiving a quality education is really thrilling and exciting,” said Kelvin. “My parents, instructors and the JROTC program prepared me for this very moment. Being a part of JROTC has mentally and physically prepared me to be a leader.”

“I’m excited and looking forward to attending the University of Texas,” said Kalvin. “I am very thankful for those who’ve helped me along the way. It’s going to be great to have my brother take this journey with me.”

Presenting the awards were Naval Aviators Capt. Davis Koss, of Orange Park, Fla., chairman of Naval Science at the University of Texas and Lt. Maressa Guynn, of Uniontown, Penn., an aviation instructor at the university.

“These two gentlemen are examples of seizing opportunity. Opportunity does not come and not on your door, you have to find it,” said Koss, a former commanding officer of the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels. "These two men have worked very hard, achieved everything academically and physically, and achieved an aptitude rating that stood out amongst their peers.”

According to retired Lt. Col. Alan W. Maitland, of Houston, the Senior Army JROTC instructor assigned to Highlands High School, the twins’ NROTC scholarships will be the second and third awarded to a Highland student in over a decade.

“The twins have received a great and awesome opportunity,” said Maitland. “I’ve been working with them for three years and without a doubt, they are well deserving of the scholarships.”

Accompanying the twins at the ceremony were their father, Rudy Rodriguez, to include school faculty, veterans organizations, Sailors of Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) San Antonio, and ret. Army Lt. Col. Jerry Cheatom, director of Army Instruction for the San Antonio Independent School District.

“I am super proud of my sons,” said Rodriguez. “They have met a goal that they had set their minds on attaining; this is just the beginning for them.”

During the ceremony, Kalvin, who serves as Highland’s JROTC battalion commander, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Joseph M. Early Disabled American Veterans Post No. 14.

The Navy offers several scholarship programs to help pay for school so a person can enjoy a normal college life and focus on their studies before starting a career in the Navy.

Through these programs, a person will enter the Navy in a leadership position as a commissioned officer. Officers in the Navy have responsibilities that include anything from low-level management to the highest levels of command.

For more information about the NROTC Scholarship program, visit www.navy.com.

Navy Talent Acquisition Group (NTAG) San Antonio’s area of responsibility includes two Talent Acquisition Onboarding Centers (TAOC) which manage more than 34 Navy Recruiting Stations and Navy Officer Recruiting Stations spread throughout 144,000 square miles of Central and South Texas territory.

• Date Taken: 05.25.2021
• Date Posted: 05.26.2021 00:12
• Story ID: 397403
• Location: SAN ANTONIO, TX, US
• Hometown: ORANGE PARK, FL, US
• Hometown: SAN ANTONIO, TX, US
• Hometown: UNIONTOWN, PA, US