John Erik Vertido
Why did you decide to serve?

I didn't have a lot of life direction at the time, so I figured the military was a good place to start.

VSO Role:

Solutions Engineer

Date Joined:

October 2018

Why did you join VSO and how has the experience been for you?

Karla recruited me off of LinkedIn. Life at VSO is great for me. I love the very open, small and welcoming atmosphere and there is great camaraderie among the teams.

Military Life:

My IT experience started when I joined the Marine Corps in 1996 as a computer operator in the Aviation Logistics squadron while stationed out in Kaneohe, HI. It was there that I had my first experience typing basic Unix commands while maintaining the naval aviation supply systems. When I got out in 2000, I moved back to California and landed my first civilian job working at a web hosting data center with Qwest out of Burbank as a Hosting Operations Sys Admin.

Family Life:

I have 2 daughters with my wife (who I met in Hawaii when I was stationed there). Nowadays, I spend most of my time tending to my kids with whatever activities they have going on -- theater, volleyball, gymnastics, etc. Whenever we can, we try to visit family in Hawaii and California and every now and then we fly out to the Philippines (where both of us were born) to visit some relatives out there.

During my free time, I like to play guitar, listen to music and watch any type of sports -- basketball, football, soccer, boxing, mixed martial arts, etc. -- it doesn't matter.