Angel Lopez, from San Francisco, is an Accredited Financial Counselor at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, Spain’s Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC).
“I spend the majority of my days either providing one-on-one financial counseling to military service members and their families or in the classroom teaching financial classes to the community and commands,” explained Lopez.
Lopez has spent almost his entire professional career onboard the installation ever since graduating from Rota Middle High School in 2006, holding roles at Morale, Welfare & Recreation (MWR) and University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC). In 2011, Lopez left Rota for the only time in his career and held a role as a badge supervisor in Baghdad, Iraq before returning to NAVSTA Rota in 2012. Since then, he’s worked for UMGC, University of Oklahoma (OU), and FFSC
“I think, like most people in helping fields, my favorite thing about my job is seeing people succeed,” explained Lopez. “I may be working with a service member or family that is struggling financially; their financial struggle might come from mistakes, accidents, emergencies, or just a lack of financial knowledge and education. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and helping them through their financial challenges as well as seeing them grow from the experience.”
Outside of his daily duties, Lopez enjoys teaching anger management and life skills courses and using whatever free time he has to pursue fitness-based activities.
“I used to have hobbies, but now that I have two young children a lot of my free time is spent on their activities, but I have always enjoyed exercise and running,” stated Lopez. “I still try to find time to do fun exercise activities or go for a nice run whenever I can.”
While originally from California, Lopez states that he has lived in Rota for so long that it has started to feel like his true home.
“When I moved to Rota, I didn't know any Spanish but I made it a point to immerse myself in Spanish language and culture,” said Lopez. “Since learning the language, it has made living in Rota an amazing experience.”
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2025 03:31 |
| Story ID: | 494991 |
| Location: | ROTA, ES |
| Web Views: | 8 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Team Rota: Angel Lopez, by PO2 Drace Wilson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
