The familiar smell of fresh coffee and eggs fills the dining area of the Admiral Baker Golf Course, where several service members gathered for the Senior Enlisted Leader’s Employment, Networking, and Breakfast event.

The event offered resources for getting started in the field of AI to service members transitioning out of the military.

Among the many organizations hosting the event was “Mil2Vet,” a podcast co-hosted by City College student Yonatan “Yogi” Hernandez.

Hernandez, a chief petty officer in the Navy who will retire at the end of September, has produced over 70 episodes of Mil2Vet alongside his co-host Chris Elder, a retired Navy veteran, spanning back to February 2023.

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The podcast offers helpful information and advice for military members transitioning to veteran status, according to Hernandez. It assists them in planning accordingly for their future and better setting themselves up for success in the civilian world.

In one episode, the podcast provided advice for veterans negotiating pay for the first time.

It has tackled dealing with the mental health side of transitioning out of the military and the toll it can have on veterans.

“Mil2Vet” regularly mentions to its audience the many communities and groups made to support veterans.

The motivation behind creating the podcast, Hernandez said, outside of preparing for his own transition into the civilian world following a 22-year career, was his passion for leading and guiding others as a chief.

“I’ve taken care of my junior sailors,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been the trailblazer … if I didn’t know something, I would go learn it and then share it with the rest of my junior sailors, junior officers and senior officers.”

This ambition to guide and help others extends to events beyond the podcast, such as the Senior Enlisted Leader’s Employment, Networking, and Breakfast event he was co-hosting.

One speaker at the event was DejaVuAI’s Guidel Olivas, who spoke to the attendees at length on the job opportunities offered exclusively to veterans. The retired Navy veteran remembered meeting Hernandez years ago through the nonprofit organization Veterans Beer Club.

They found camaraderie in their similarities, such as similar friends and job history. As Olivas puts it, they’ve “been friends ever since.”

Hernandez is looking forward to adding a second podcast, which he will co-host with Olivias, focused on sharing the stories and experiences of minorities in the military.

“Being (a) first-generation immigrant, one of the biggest challenges that I faced when I first joined was the opportunities,” Hernandez said. “Even though they were there, they were not as clear(ly) available to minorities.”

Hernandez hopes to have the first episode of the new series uploaded in September for Latine Heritage Month.

Editor’s note: City Times has updated its style guide to standardize the use of the word Chicane and/or Latine when referring to people together who identify as a person from, or whose ancestors were from, a Latin American land or culture. The Associated Press Stylebook recommends using the word Chicano/Latino.

Editor’s note: Hernandez joined the staff of City Times Media after reporting began on this story.