Episode 18: Jose Velazquez — 30 Years Telling the Army’s Story

In this episode, I sit down with Jose Velazquez — a retired Army public affairs leader with more than 30 years of service and a career dedicated to telling the Army’s story. Jose started his journey in an unexpected way. Growing up in the projects with dreams of working in radio and television, he took a chance with an Army recruiter hoping the military might offer a path into broadcasting. It did — launching a career that would take him around the world sharing the stories of soldiers and the missions they served . From playing rock music for troops as a military broadcaster to leading major public affairs efforts at the highest levels of the Army, Jose built a career focused on communication, leadership, and connection. In this conversation we discuss: • How Jose found his way into Army broadcasting • What it’s like to serve in the Army public affairs field • Telling the Army story from the tactical level to the Pentagon • Serving as the public affairs advisor to the Sergeant Major of the Army • The realities of leadership inside a military communication mission • Transitioning from military service to entrepreneurship Jose also shares lessons from his transition after retiring in 2021, including how shifting from the military mindset of “we” to the civilian world of “me” can be one of the hardest parts of leaving service. Today, he runs his own media consulting business and continues helping veterans, service members, and organizations communicate their stories more effectively. This episode is about leadership, communication, transition, and the power of storytelling — both in uniform and beyond it. The post Episode 18: Jose Velazquez — 30 Years Telling the Army’s Story first appeared on Womack C3.