It’s been a thread running through generations of his family, from his father’s time in Vietnam to his own three decades in the Marine Corps, and now into his work leading VA’s police force.
Hernandez is the executive director of VA’s Office of Security and Law Enforcement, where he oversees the consolidation of roughly 6,000 VA police officers from 139 separate chains of command under individual medical centers into one unified structure.
It’s a massive undertaking, and one he approaches with the same mindset that carried him through Desert Storm, three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a decade of disaster response with FEMA.
Hernandez, a native of El Paso, Texas, comes from a family steeped in military tradition.
His father left the Army as a captain after serving in Vietnam.
Both of his grandfathers served in World War II—one in the Navy, one in the Army.
He also had an uncle that served as a Navy corpsman in Korea and Vietnam.
Still, Hernandez says the moment that pushed him toward the Marine Corps wasn’t a family story. It was a tragedy he watched unfold alone, on television, as a young man in college.
“I was sitting by myself in college when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up,” Hernandez said. “I just wanted to be something.
I wanted to be part of the solution and be part of something bigger than I was at the time.
And that’s when I decided I was gonna join the Marine Corps.”
After earning a scholarship and graduating from Texas Tech University, Hernandez commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
This was the start of a career that would span Desert Storm, two decades of leadership roles, and a decade in federal emergency management before he arrived at VA.
Ask Hernandez what shaped him most during his military career, and the answer isn’t a particular battle or title. It’s the people.
“Just being an officer of Marines, just being a leader of Marines—that’s what shaped me the most,” Hernandez said.
He described himself as an “owner” rather than a “renter” in the Marine Corps; someone who stayed, invested and led from the ground up. He spent a rare 10 straight years in the operating forces because, as he put it, he simply enjoyed it too much to leave.
That philosophy of investing in people has followed him into civilian leadership. Hernandez says one of the core tenets he carries with him from the Marine Corps is an obligation every leader should feel: developing the next generation of leaders.
“I think I learned it from a combination of being helped out by family and by mentors along the way,” he said. “My father instilled in me, from a young age, do the right thing for the right reason when nobody’s looking.”
Among the mentors Hernandez credits are retired Gen. John Allen, whom he served alongside as a young major, and retired Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Charles Krulak, who left him with advice he has carried for decades: No matter how far you go in your career, don’t neglect your support network at home.
Reflecting on this year’s National Hispanic Heritage Month theme, “Somos Más,” or “We Are More,” Hernandez said the message resonates with him less as a cultural statement and more as a universal truth about leadership and teamwork.
“You can’t do things without people,” he said. “You gotta have the relationships, you gotta have the bonds.
Everything I’ve done in the military and in the civilian sector, it’s crucial to have those relationships.
If you build a team with a common goal, that’s when things start rolling.
It’s all about people.”
After retiring from the Marine Corps in 2010, Hernandez spent close to 10 years with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, leading response operations for some of the nation’s largest disasters, including the 2011 Alabama tornadoes, Hurricane Sandy in Staten Island, a three-month deployment leading response operations after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Michael in the Florida Panhandle.
He went on to serve as deputy director of the U.S. Mint and as a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services before joining VA.
He’s candid about why he stepped away from the Marine Corps when he did.
“I had made my wife a single parent,” he said. “I had been deployed for half my daughters’ lives. So it was time for me to shift priorities.”
For Veterans navigating life after the military, Hernandez’s advice centers on carrying forward what made them successful in uniform.
“Don’t forget what got you here,” he said. “Be very, very proud of your service to your country.
You have garnered more experience and qualities than you can think of right now that are going to be very marketable to the private and public sector.
Don’t discount what you’ve done.”
He also encourages Veterans not to let their service become the only chapter they talk about.
“Being a Veteran.
I consider it an honor to be a Veteran and [to] have served my country.
That doesn’t necessarily define me now,” he said. “Don’t stop growing and developing as you go forward, because if you don’t, you’re just gonna stay stagnant.”
Hernandez also hopes more Veterans, particularly those from earlier generations, will take advantage of VA’s services rather than assuming they aren’t deserving.
“’ Somebody needs it more than I do,’ that type of thing,” he said, describing a mindset he’s encountered in his own family. “I wish that mindset would change, and that they’d be willing to accept these types of things.”
Asked to complete the sentence, “I went from uniform to unforgettable because…” Hernandez didn’t hesitate to point to the people who made it possible.
“I’m going to go back to my family, because of the support provided to me from the time I was young, through my wife and current family now,” he said. “I couldn’t have done what I did without their support.
They went through a lot of tough times.”
Today, as he works to unify VA’s police force under a single chain of command, Hernandez continues to carry the same lessons that shaped his Marine Corps career: lead the people in front of you, invest in those coming up behind you, and never forget who stood behind you to make it possible.
From Uniform to Unforgettable celebrates Veterans whose journeys deserve to be heard, honored and remembered. If you are a Veteran, or know a Veteran whose story should be featured, consider submitting a nomination.
Center for Minority Veterans National Hispanic Heritage Month VA police