Ryan Velez

Service on Both Fronts

Born and raised in Attleboro, Massachusetts, and now based in San Antonio, Texas, E-5 Navy Reservist Ryan Velez serves in and out of uniform. In addition to serving as Leidos QTC Health Services team lead for the Reserve Health Readiness Program, he is an assistant to the Navy Civilian Liaison Non-Commissioned Officer and a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman stationed at Joint Base San Antonio - Fort Sam Houston.

For Velez, balancing civilian work and military service isn’t about choosing one over the other, it’s about integration. He describes it simply as “taking lessons that I have learned from my civilian and military work life and combining those lessons to enhance both aspects of my life.” 

His military experience of over a decade directly strengthens his civilian impact. “As a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman, my medical skills and communication with my peers directly translates to my success due to being able to understand and provide relatable guidance to service members”, he shared. With firsthand knowledge, he helps bridge gaps at Leidos QTC in navigating military-specific systems and swiftly handling readiness requests. Velez explained, “Examples of this would be navigating issues that come up that are strictly on the military side of the house to include how to access medical paperwork or look up medical statuses to streamlining medical requests to Leidos QTC to have them be able to complete and update their annual readiness status.”

Leidos QTC’s support has made it possible for Velez to continue his career in the Navy Reserve without missing a beat when switching roles from the military back to the work desk. He shared, “The transition between coming back to work has been smooth and easy with the great communication from my leadership team. They have allowed me to have open communication which has allowed me to move between the two parts of my life without any major issues.”

Velez encourages fellow Guard and Reserve members to consider Leidos QTC as a place where you can continue serving while building a civilian career. Since starting as a customer service associate and earning a promotion to team lead, he is now setting sights on future growth in operations supervision or project management. Always prepared for what’s next, he lives by this philosophy: “If you stay ready, you never have to get ready, so everything else just falls in place.”