RTC Staff in the Spotlight: AM2 Kevin Reyes

Photo By Chief Petty Officer Spencer Fling | Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Kevin Reyes poses for a portrait photo at Recruit Training Command. More than 40,000 recruits train annually at the Navy's only boot camp. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Camilo Fernan)  

GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES

06.30.2021

Story by Petty Officer 1st Class Spencer Fling    

U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command

Meet AM2 Kevin Reyes! He is an #AviationStructuralMechanic currently serving as a a #RecruitDivisionCommander at #RecruitTrainingCommand the #Navy’s only #bootcamp

Petty Officer Reyes recently set down for a question and answer session to reflect on his time and experiences at #RTC.

What has your time at RTC been like?

“I've been at RTC for three years. Honestly, I love being an RDC. I know that sounds kind of cliche, but I really do like this job, the impact I'm making on all these men and women that come in through. When I was a recruit, I remember my RDCs and all their mannerisms. To this day, I still kind of copy things they did and I wanted to come back to make an impact like that.”

What's your what's your favorite part of the job?

“My favorite part of the job is training recruits. Not so much just the RDC part, but more so the mentoring part like teaching them life lessons so they become good men and women, not just good Sailors. I get to tell recruits mistakes I made and then I tell them not to make the same ones. Hopefully it helps them be more successful and learn from mistakes I made.”

Could you go a little further into what mistakes your referring to?

Definitely. I talk about complacency a lot with my recruits. My first two years in the Navy I made E-5 and I got too comfortable where I was at. I fell I got kind of cocky and lazy. I didn't move forward like I should have. Make sure that regardless of what happens, start working for the next goal and then so on and so on and don’t stop.

Tell me more about your career in the Navy.

I’ve been in 10 years this past April. I did seven years in Whidbey Island, Washington at a couple of different commands. I went from, FRC Northwest to VAQ-142 to VP-46, and then came here to RTC. I actually met my wife actually in the Navy. And then we just kind of just settled down and then we started our family. Now, we are back home. I was actually born and raised in Chicago.

What has been the most difficult thing you’ve faced at RTC?

I would have to say when my wife gave birth during COVID. That was definitely an experience. It was scary at times especially since I had to stay on base during COVID and not with her. Thank God, everything worked out and the baby was healthy and my wife was healthy.

No one in my family caught COVID like I did. I had everything. I had the high fever, I lost my taste and smell, and had the body aches. Don't downplay it, it is rough. I’m completely healthy and it wrecked me.

I really feel like my story here has been just trying to find a balance with everything. People that work here, especially has RDCs have to find a balance with work, family and personal wellness and to do it, you have to have toughness. I’ve been able to take a punch and get right back up and then just do it all over again.

What is your source of inspiration that gives you the ability to bounce back?

Honestly? I know this is probably going to sound kind of lame, but I actually look up to The Rock (Dwayne Johnson). Not in the sense he's a bodybuilder or a wrestler, or whatever, but how much he had to overcome to get to where he is now.

I remember reading his backstory and he was supposed to be this great football player coming out of college for the University of Miami. Then he didn't get drafted, played some in Canada and didn't make it there either. He went back home with literally like about $7 and some change to his name. He had like nothing but then instead of letting life beat him down he decided to go a different route.

And that's what I want to be in life. Not necessarily being some famous person, just being one not to give up and then eventually, down the road, find a way to have successes.

What similarities to The Rock do you see on your own journey?

I don't know if I'm really allowed to say this, but at one point last year I was actually really down. I was just burnt out, with COVID and the lockdown, a lot of job stressors and at home demands. I talked to some of my mentors and they helped me remember that nothing in life is always going to be easy. You know what I mean? It's how you adapt to the struggles in life is what's I feel like is what make you successful.

I tell my recruits all the time, if something comes easy then you're getting set up for failure. If you always take the easy route, if you don't give yourself a little bit of struggle, then you're not going to get any better.

Since that down point you were in last year, how are you doing now?

I'm definitely in a good place now. My family has worked through so many things and they are there for me. My mentors have really pushed me to be great and then they also helped me reflect on some of the things I've ever done in my career. I’ve had successful career here at RTC. I got fully qualified on my front end or my first year here. I've been put up multiple times for sailor of the quarter. I've achieved a lot of things here.

I’ve heard from some of my past recruits and a lot of them would actually reach out to say thank you. They would thank me for the things that I did or said to help them keep going when times got rough for them, like during their first deployments, they said that they would remember what I told them back in bootcamp. That is really humbling for me. It just helps me realize, that I am at a good place in life and making an impact.

• Date Taken: 06.30.2021
• Date Posted: 06.30.2021 15:08
• Story ID: 400132
• Location: GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS, US