Sergeant Major Rodriguez was born in Texas; he enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 13, 2003, in Pearson, GA. Upon completing recruit training at Parris Island, he was assigned to the School of Infantry at Camp Geiger, North Carolina, for his Military Occupational Specialty to become a Basic Rifleman. Upon completing school, he reported to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, as a rifleman. He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004, where he participated in Operation Al Fajir during the capture of Fallujah. In 2006, Lance Corporal Rodriguez was meritoriously promoted to Corporal and deployed again with the 22nd MEU in 2007, where he was part of the NEO in Beirut, Lebanon, which evacuated over 14,000 US Citizens.
In the summer of 2007, he was assigned to the Chemical Incident Response Force in Indian Head, Maryland. He served as a Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant. In 2007, Corporal Rodriguez was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Sergeant Rodriguez conducted numerous Live Chemical Agent Training Sessions in Canada and participated in President Obama's Inauguration, the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and four State of the Union Addresses.
In November 2009, Sergeant Rodriguez received orders from Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, and 1st Marines in Camp Pendleton, California, where he served as a squad leader. During this tour of duty, he deployed from 2010 through 2011 to the Garmisir District, Afghanistan, in Helmand Province in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. During the deployment, he oversaw one of the Police Mentor Teams. He conducted multiple joint coalition operations and trained a platoon of 45 Afghan National Police. He was promoted to Staff Sergeant in November 2013 and served as the Platoon Sergeant for the Crisis Response Platoon with the 15th MEU. Additionally, he was the QRF Assistant Ground Force Commander for the US embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, and supported Operation Yukon Boulder II.
In March 2015, Staff Sergeant Rodriguez received orders to Inspector &Instructor Duty in Buffalo, NY, where he served as the Operations Chief in an integrated billet as the Company Gunnery Sergeant. Staff Sergeant Rodriguez served as a Platoon Commander, where he planned and executed five live-fire attacks and participated in Exercise Riley Xanten with the Canadian Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Army in Burwash, Canada. Staff Sergeant Rodriguez coordinated all 12 live-fire combined arms training events. Staff Sergeant Rodriguez was promoted to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant in 2017.
In October 2018, Gunnery Sergeant Rodriguez received orders from the Recruiting Station in Houston. After only 4 months as a Canvassing Recruiter, Gunnery Sergeant was selected to become a Staff Non-Commissioned Officer for Recruiting Station Pearland. As a non-commissioned officer, he achieved 100% of the assigned mission for contracting and shipping with a 94% graduation rate from recruit training. He was directly responsible for creating 143 Marines in 34 months. RS Houston was recognized as RS of the Year and Western Recruiting Region Recruiting Station of the Year during his tenure.
In July 2021, Gunnery Sergeant Rodriguez received orders to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Hawaii. He was the operations officer, logistics officer, and uniform readiness coordinator. GySgt Rodriguez was then frocked to First Sergeant in January 2022 and reported to Marine Wing Support Squadron 174, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
In January 2022, First Sergeant assumed the Engineer Company First Sergeant responsibilities. He participated in Exercise RIMPAC, Baliktan, and multiple smaller exercises across USINDOPACOM's area of responsibility. First Sergeant Rodriguez was also part of Motor Transport Company and Headquarters and Service Company. During this tenure, he made significant contributions to the company's recognition as the Marine Corps Engineer Company of the Year, Motor Transport Company of the Year for 1st MAW, and MWSS-174 of the Year for two consecutive years.
Sergeant Major Rodriguez is enrolled in an Organizational Leadership Program with the US Navy Community College.