From serving in the U.S. Army to landing a part in the hit TV show Mayans M.C., Vincent “Rocco” Vargas is no stranger to multitasking.
Vincent served a total of eighteen years with the United States Army, four of those years were on active duty, assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Regiment. As an Army Ranger, he was deployed for three combat tours, two in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.
In 2009, after his stint with active duty, Vincent joined the Army Reserves as a Drill Sergeant and worked full time for the Department of Homeland Security as a medic with the Special Operations Group.
Although he loved serving his country, Vincent had a passion for the entertainment industry and wanted to try acting. In 2013, he connected with his Ranger buddy, Mat Best, known for the Black Rifle Coffee franchise, to make YouTube videos and eventually produced a zombie apocalypse comedy called Range 15.
Vincent gained valuable acting experience from Range 15 and other productions such as Dads in Parks and a personal project called The Long Way Back. Using the confidence gained from those previous projects, Vincent auditioned for, and earned, a recurring role as “Gilly” with the hit TV show Mayans M.C. on FX.
But Vincent always wanted to give back to the Veteran community and help them manage the challenging time of transitioning from service member to civilian. Using his success on the small screen as motivation, he started the company, Beteran, which is focused on helping the military family move into civilian life. By selling merchandise and taking donations, Beteran’s goal is to build a transition center in every major city that will focus on VA benefits, family issues, PTSD, and other challenges that service men and women face once they leave active duty. Vincent has also partnered with the military gaming community, Regiment, which focuses on uniting military service members and veterans on all fronts through gaming.
Army Ranger turned actor and businessman, Vincent “Rocco” Vargas proves that even though the road to civilian life can be challenging, with the help of friends, family, and personal grit, your goals can be realized.
In an interview with G.I. Jobs, Vincent was asked what advice he would give to military members getting ready to separate from active duty. He said it best when he stated, “Don’t hold on to the title of Veteran and don’t let that carry you because it won’t. The skill sets you learn in the military from hard work, to ethics, to care of equipment, to neatness and dress, punctuality, all of these different things that you’ve learned, all of these little skill sets that you’ve learned, I think those are the gold that you have that most people probably don’t.”
To learn more about Vincent's journey, check out the YouTube video below.
Sources: How Vince Vargas is Spreading Positivity Through The 'Beteran' Movement | After the War: A Soldier's Struggle to Come Home | He's The Army: Sgt 1st Class Vincent "Rocco" Vargas | Beteran Website | His Facebook | His Twitter | His Twitch
Note: Article published with permission from Vincent Vargas.