A Soldier who was born in Uruguay and grew up in the Spanish Canary Islands before moving to the United States welcomed the opportunity to lead and serve in a U.S. Army chemical company.

Sgt. Micaela Rodgriguez from the 21st Chemical Company (Hazard Response) graduated with honors from Fitchburg State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice sciences before joining the Army in 2021.

Rodriguez currently serves as the assistant squad leader in the 2nd Squad, 3rd Hazard Assessment Platoon, in the 21st Chemical Company.

The Fort Liberty, North Carolina-headquartered 21st Chemical Company “Blackjacks” is part of the 83rd Chemical Battalion, 48th Chemical Brigade and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. military’s premier CBRNE formation.

From 19 bases in 16 states, Soldiers and Army civilians from the 20th CBRNE Command confront and defeat the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and multinational operations.

Rodriguez was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, and lived there for three years before moving to the Canary Islands.

“I vaguely remember helping my grandma with the cows and pigs and running around the pastures. It was a very humble home and everything we had was earned by very hard work,” said Rodriguez. “Thanks to my parents, I was able to grow up with a better life in the Canary Islands in Spain. I grew up knowing that everything I wanted I had to work hard for.”

After moving to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Rodriguez learned English and excelled in school.

“I focused on school so I could show my parents that leaving family behind was worth their struggles because I was going to make them proud. At the age of 14, we came to the United States,” said Rodriguez.

“Thankfully, we had family here that helped us get on our feet in a new country where the language was not our native tongue,” said Rodriguez. “Once again, I continued to focus on school and graduated top of my class in high school.”

Rodriguez decided to serve in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps after doing research on the lifesaving and mission enabling profession.

“My recruiter said there was a high demand for Chemical Soldiers and that our job was extremely important,” said Rodriguez.

“I did my research on my own and came across a lot of information that was very useful to make my decision,” said Rodriguez. “I just didn’t know I was going to like the experiences that came with the job so much. The opportunities I have had to learn my job more in detail have been extremely rewarding.”

U.S. Army Hazardous Response companies conduct Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance, surveillance and decontamination operations with conventional and Special Operations forces around the world and provide support to civil authorities across the nation.

Since reporting to the 21st Chemical Company, Rodriguez has deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of operations and served in Romania with NATO.

“Getting to learn how our allied countries work and showing them our capabilities was incredible. Being able to learn from their cultures too while we were all far from home and sharing anecdotes and being able to learn how to work and communicate together was incredible,” said Rodriguez. “I also had an opportunity to stay back and go to Greece, which obviously was amazing.”

Rodriguez said being away from home, especially during the holidays, has been the biggest challenge of serving in the Army.

“I am very family oriented, and I am lucky enough to have an incredible support system. I had never been away from home for the holidays,” said Rodriguez. “These situations helped me realize that I was capable of things I would have never known if I had stayed in my hometown.

Rodriguez is currently training to become a squad leader and working on an Active-Duty Green to Gold program package. The Army’s Green to Gold program is a two-year program that provides enlisted Soldiers with the opportunity to complete their college degree and earn a commission as an Army officer.

Since Rodriguez has already earned her bachelor’s degree, which is required to be a commissioned officer, the Army Green to Gold program will pay for her to earn a master’s degree.

“I love being a noncommissioned officer but I find myself doing a lot more planning and coming up with events and opportunities for my Soldiers and I think my potential could be useful in the officer world,” said Rodriguez. “Having prior experience is also a great thing because as an officer I'll be able to understand how my decisions impact the Soldiers around me.”

Editor’s note: Story by Walter Ham 20th CBRNE Command. 

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