From Sailor to San Antonio

On January 9, 2002, at 19 years old, I left Hawthorne, California, and began my journey in the United States Navy. Interestingly enough, the Navy hadn’t originally come looking for me. A recruiter was trying to speak with my brother. He wasn’t home, so the recruiter asked if I had ever considered joining instead. I hadn’t. But I agreed to visit the recruiting office. After seeing what the Navy did and the opportunities that came with serving, something clicked. No one in my family had served in the military before me, but I saw an opportunity to do something meaningful with my life. I signed up.

Becoming a Sailor

My first stop was Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois. Coming from Southern California, I had never experienced cold quite like a Great Lakes winter. I turned 20 during boot camp and quickly learned about the structure, discipline and accountability that come with military service. After boot camp, I traveled to Meridian, Mississippi, for Yeoman “A” School — going from one weather extreme to the other — before receiving orders that would define my Navy career.

In June 2002, I reported to Newport News, Virginia, as part of the original crew of PCU Ronald Reagan. At the time, she wasn’t yet USS Ronald Reagan. She was still being built.

Building a Ship — and a Crew

When I first reported aboard, much of the crew still worked from nearby office buildings because significant work remained aboard the carrier. We would take the ship from Newport News to Norfolk for sea trials, identify issues that needed attention, return for additional work and then do it all over again. And we cleaned. Then we cleaned some more. And when we thought we were finished cleaning, we found something else to clean.

For approximately my first two years aboard, I served in Commanding Officer Administration, supporting the office of Captain J. W. Goodwin. Our team provided administrative support for the leadership of a command that would eventually include approximately 6,000 Sailors and other service members. My responsibilities extended beyond traditional administrative work. I maintained our division’s supply inventory, served as an investigator during General Quarters damage-control drills, performed shipboard security duties and completed advanced armed-sentry training alongside Marines. On duty days, the normal workday didn’t simply end at 5 p.m. We remained aboard for the full 24-hour duty period and assumed additional responsibilities for the safety and security of the ship.

Then, on July 12, 2003, the ship we had watched come together officially became USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). I had the privilege of being on duty for her commissioning. My security assignment placed me at the entrance to the event alongside Secret Service personnel, checking invitations and identification and assisting with security screening as guests entered. It remains one of the experiences from my service that I will never forget. I was no longer simply serving aboard an aircraft carrier. I was a plank owner of USS Ronald Reagan.

Life in the Air Department

After approximately two years in CO Admin, leadership rotated members of the administrative staff into different departments. I knew exactly where I wanted to go. If you’re serving aboard an aircraft carrier, who wouldn’t want an opportunity to experience the Air Department? I transferred to V-5 Division in Air Administration, supporting a department of more than 800 personnel. Our responsibilities included personnel accountability and muster reports, pay issues, leave accountability, awards and performance evaluations.

Working in Air Department also gave me opportunities few people ever experience. I could watch F/A-18 Super Hornets launch and recover from the flight deck and observe flight operations from the ship’s control tower. I’ll admit that the first experiences on the flight deck were intimidating. Even standing on the catwalk several feet below the flight deck, where I knew perfectly well an aircraft’s wing couldn’t hit me, I instinctively ducked whenever one came roaring past. Some reactions are stronger than logic.

I also had the opportunity to watch nighttime flight operations from above and once witnessed a high-speed F/A-18 flyby. I hadn’t completely understood the announcement beforehand, so I watched the aircraft streak past us — and then was startled a few moments later when the sound reached the ship. Those are experiences you don’t forget.

Around South America and Home to California

In May 2004, USS Ronald Reagan departed Virginia to begin the journey to her new homeport in San Diego. Rather than passing through the Panama Canal, our voyage took us around South America. We visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Chile; and Lima, Peru. We crossed the equator, where I participated in the Navy’s traditional Shellback ceremony, and continued through the cold, rough waters of the Strait of Magellan.

Rio remains my favorite port visit. I saw Christ the Redeemer, visited the beach and participated in a guided rainforest excursion. But my favorite experience wasn’t sightseeing. It was an orphanage. Several of us volunteered for a community-service project where we helped clean and paint portions of the orphanage. After we finished working, the children challenged the American Sailors to a soccer game. Most of them were only eight or nine years old. We figured we’d take it easy on them. We were wrong. Those kids moved the ball around like professionals, routinely completing one-touch passes while completely dismantling our team. I remember the final score being somewhere around 25–1 — and I’m fairly certain our only goal happened because they finally felt sorry for us. It remains one of my favorite memories from my Navy service.

Coming Home

In July 2004, USS Ronald Reagan finally arrived in San Diego. For me, it really did feel like coming home. I had left Southern California as a 19-year-old recruit and was returning aboard an aircraft carrier I had watched transform from an unfinished ship in Newport News into a commissioned United States warship. My older brother was there to welcome me home.

I also remember doing FOD pickup on the flight deck as we approached California when our V-5 LPO decided we needed appropriate music. I happened to own the CD. After first making sure the song didn’t contain language we couldn’t broadcast over the flight deck speakers, I handed over my Tupac CD. And “California Love” played across the flight deck. It was hard to imagine a more appropriate homecoming.

Becoming a Husband and Father

My Navy experience wasn’t only an adventure. It also taught me about the sacrifices military families make. I married early in my Navy career, but my wife and I spent my entire enlistment geographically separated. She lived with my grandmother in Carson City, Nevada, while I served aboard Reagan. Our first child was born in November 2004. Becoming a father changed my perspective. Military service had given me experiences I could never have imagined as that 19-year-old kid in Hawthorne, but now I had a family to think about as well.

Ultimately, I decided not to reenlist. Looking back more than two decades later, there are times my wife and I both wonder what life might have looked like had I stayed for 20 years. There would have been more deployments, more countries and an entirely different life story. But at the time, leaving was the decision I believed was right for my young family.

“Plank Owner, Departing”

On June 10, 2005, my active-duty Navy career came to an end. As a plank owner, I was given the option of receiving a traditional farewell as I departed USS Ronald Reagan. There was no question in my mind. I wanted it. I walked through the officer’s brow alone, rendered my final salute, and heard the announcement: “YN3 Juan Gonzalez, United States Navy, plank owner, departing.” I almost cried. I was leaving good friends behind, but it was more than that. The chapter of my life that had given me some of my proudest moments was ending.

I had arrived in Newport News as a young Yeoman Apprentice while Ronald Reagan was still being completed. I had watched her undergo sea trials, served in the Commanding Officer’s office, stood security at her commissioning, worked in her Air Department, watched Super Hornets launch and recover, sailed around South America, crossed the equator and returned home to California aboard her. Now I was walking off my ship for the last time as Yeoman Third Class Petty Officer Juan Gonzalez. That Sailor never really left me.

Finding My Way to San Antonio

The same day I separated from active duty, I got in my vehicle and started driving east. I made it to the outskirts of El Paso that first night and completed the drive to San Antonio the following day. My uncle had offered me an opportunity to work with his ice-cream delivery business, and San Antonio also put my family within driving distance of my wife’s hometown of Ameca, Jalisco. My wife joined me shortly afterward, and we rented a home in Southwest San Antonio near Old Pearsall Road and Loop 1604.

Our journey wasn’t finished. We eventually moved to Las Vegas, then Carson City, Nevada. I worked construction until the housing-market collapse left me looking for another career. I later went into corrections, but with economic uncertainty continuing, our family faced another decision about where we wanted to build our future. In the summer of 2011, we chose San Antonio. This time, we came back to stay. We have spent most of our years in the Far West San Antonio area, with some time in Hondo as well. Over the years we’ve built friendships, raised our family and put down the roots we had spent years searching for. San Antonio became home.

Understanding the Value of Homeownership

When I first arrived in San Antonio, I rented. I didn’t purchase my first home until 2016. Fortunately, the Realtor who helped me was himself a retired Air Force service member. He helped educate me about using my VA home-loan benefit, and I purchased my home with a VA loan. If I could give my younger self one piece of financial advice, it would be simple: I would have started building equity through real estate much sooner. That experience eventually became another piece of the perspective I bring to military families today.

Why I Created PCS Move to San Antonio

Years later, my older brother recruited me into the lending side of the real estate industry. That eventually led me into residential real estate, where I discovered that I genuinely enjoyed the culture, the challenge and, most importantly, helping people navigate major decisions in their lives. And that’s where my Navy story and my San Antonio story finally come together.

I know what it feels like to leave home. I know what it feels like to arrive somewhere unfamiliar. I know what geographical separation from your family feels like. I know what it’s like to make career decisions with a spouse and children depending on you. And my family knows what it’s like to move from California to Texas, Texas to Nevada, Northern Nevada back to Texas, and finally decide: This is where we’re putting down roots.

That’s why I created PCS Move to San Antonio. Military families receiving orders to Joint Base San Antonio don’t always have months to figure everything out. You’re working against orders and report dates while trying to understand a city you may have never visited. Your spouse may be wondering about employment. You’re thinking about schools, neighborhoods, commute times, housing, VA financing and whether your family will actually enjoy living here. I want to make that transition easier. My initial focus is on families with PCS orders to Lackland AFB, particularly those considering the Far West and Southwest San Antonio areas that my own family has called home.

My role isn’t simply to show you houses. I want to be a resource and, when needed, a mentor. If you call me and say, “Juan, I just got orders to San Antonio. We’ve never been there and my family doesn’t know where to start,” my response is simple: You’ve come to the right person. I’ve been there. We’ll start by helping you understand San Antonio — where things are, what different areas offer, what your commute could look like and what your family needs to consider. If purchasing makes sense for your situation, we’ll work on getting you properly prepared so that when you come to San Antonio, we can make the most of the time you have available to find a home.

More than twenty years ago, I raised my right hand and volunteered to serve. Today, my uniform is different, but the desire to serve remains. I’m here to serve those who serve — and their families.