Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Rawad Madanat | 171024-N-JW440-0053 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Oct. 24, 2017) Aviation Ordnanceman 1st...... read more read more
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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (March 26, 2024) – For most people, finding your calling may take a lifetime; to include countless hours and numerous uncertainties spent in pursuit of the path you are made to take. U.S. Navy Ensign and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Sailor Elliot Rodriguezdiaz however, is not one of those people.
From a young age, Rodriguezdiaz knew he would follow in the footsteps of his father. As a child in the coastal town of Farajado, Puerto Rico, he was raised in a veritable tropical paradise. It was not the surf or sun that caught his interest, although he admits those were hard to beat, but a hobby of his father’s.
“It was just old salsa,” said Rodriguezdiaz. “He would take me with him to the radio station, I would do the controls while he would talk.”
Following his normal work day, Rodriguezdiaz’s father moonlighted as a radio DJ for the local station Junque 93. Found on channel 92.3 FM, the station broadcast tropical top 40 music for the surrounding area. It did not take Rodriguezdiaz long for his dad’s hobby to rub off on him.
“The days that I had school I would beg him to take me with him,” said Rodriguezdiaz. “I would literally just sit there and watch him talk. Or I’d have school the next day so I’d sleep on the floor of the console, take a little nap until he had to close the station at midnight.”
Rodriguezdiaz wanted to more than just help out. He wanted a spot of his own. After speaking with his dad and Junque 93’s program director Raul Rivera at the age of 17, he would get his first chance.
“My first shift was midnight until 6 am, I started in 2003,” stated Rodriguezdiaz. While he loved the work, he dreamed of something bigger.
It was not long until Rodriguezdiaz would get his big break. After fighting and failing with his programming director in multiple attempts to recruit a younger audience, it would actually be a slip up that lead to his recognition on a larger scale.
“I’m never going to forget one of the times that I was on the station, something was happening with the wildfires in California. I was passed a piece of paper, and read the article without giving it much thought,” said Rodriguezdiaz. “And I said to myself while I’m live ‘Oh, dang. I’m glad only four people survived’ instead of ‘I’m glad only four people died’.”
It was through this experience that he learned that the simplest of words truly do matter. The older demographic of Junque 93 was not pleased. However, the incident ended up working in Rodriguezdiaz’s favor, attracting the attention of the ‘bigger dogs’.
Soon much of the island was talking about the local radio host’s blunder. It was at this point that Rodriguezdiaz was contacted by representatives at La Mega, one of the largest broadcast channels in Puerto Rico, with salsa and tropical music stations around the world. They found the whole thing hilarious.
“I got a call from this guy Antonio Rodriguez and he was like ‘Hey, you know, I’ve been listening to you. Do you want to come work with us?’,” said Rodriguez Diaz. “After hearing he was with La Mega, my jaw dropped. I tried to be a bit cocky and play it cool, saying I’d get back to him. He replied ‘Elliot I’m going to be honest with you. That’s not how this works. It’s either you take it now or we find somebody else.’”
Needless to say, he took it.
After working for both Junque 93 and La Mega simultaneously for a short period of time, Rodriguezdiaz soon started working for the national broadcast exclusively. It was here his career began to skyrocket.
“At one point my dad worked Sundays on his show, and I would also work Sundays. Not necessarily against him, but in a competing market,” stated Rodriguezdiaz. “I would call him or he would call me while we were both on air and be like ‘hey man, give me a break’. That was probably one of the most special and happiest moments I shared with him, maybe with the exception of when I put khaki’s on.”
Soon Rodriguezdiaz would break into the TV market as well, first through smaller local channels, and then eventually the much larger national television network WAPA on channel 4. Here Rodriguezdiaz starred in a parody type show on La Jangueo TV he likens to ‘The Spanish version of Mad TV’, and a college tour program on formerly MTV Puerto Rico, where he would speak to artists and showcase Top 40 material in the country.
Additionally, he would take over well renowned disc jockey Joel El Intruder’s show La Mega Urban Live, a live radio program hosted from one of Puerto Rico’s more well-known nightclubs.
Things began to change in 2007 when the parent company Rodriguezdiaz worked for began talks of selling the company. “We knew that people were coming in, and that there were going to be cuts. That’s when the book idea came into place.”
After witnessing firsthand how little the party culture had to truly offer the youth of Puerto Rico, he wanted to inspire the younger generation in a different way, in a more productive way.
“I initially joined the Navy to write a book. After my four years I’d sit down, and tell them everything in my book. That was my whole goal, to inspire them to do something bigger,” said Rodriguezdiaz. You would go out and see all these kids partying and doing all this stuff, but they go nowhere. There’s more to it than that. 16 years later, here I am.”
Rodriguezdiaz enlisted in the United States Navy September 11, 2008 as an Aviation Ordnanceman. He has since served aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65), Navy Munitions Command Key West, USS Wasp (LHD 1) where here would pick up limited duty officer, and finally USS John C. Stennis where he reported aboard in November 2022.
Rodriguezdiaz has accomplished much throughout his Naval career, and even revisited his hometown of Fajardo in uniform on a humanitarian mission in the wake of Hurricane Maria while aboard LHD 1 in 2017.
The Stennis Gunner maintains that he utilizes the skills he picked up in broadcast on an almost daily basis. “I actually am extremely grateful for the chance to have done not only radio, but television prior to joining. I have no problem speaking in front of crowds, big and small,” said Rodriguezdiaz. “Between public speaking, writing and knowing that words matter, I use them every day.”
Rodriguezdiaz’s father passed away in May 2020, however not before he got to witness his son follow in his path.
“I’ve got to say my best and biggest role model has always been my dad. He never joined the military, but he always spoke about if he had. He never made it to the big radio station, but he always talked about it.”
He inspired his son to do both, and got to watch him do both. Rodriguezdiaz is still fully planning on writing his book.
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.30.2024 12:05 |
| Story ID: | 488431 |
| Location: | NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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