Dagmar Torres Rodriguez was born in September 1976 in Mayag¸ez, Puerto Rico, to Ana Rodriguez, a teacher, and Oscar Torres, a civil engineer, attorney, and lieutenant colonel in the Puerto Rico National Guard, in which he served for 27 years.
In 1996, Torres joined the Army and completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., before moving to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, for advanced individual training.
During her service, Torres took part in a 2001 NATO peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, earning a NATO Medal for her service in the campaign. Exposing her to the importance of providing medical treatment to locals, the mission directly encouraged Torres to pursue instruction in life-saving work. This led her to serve as a 68W combat medic, a position requiring the provision of medical care in humanitarian and combat situations, as well as first responder instruction. As a 68W, she trained multiple troops who later served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terror.
In 2020, after 24 years of service, Torres retired as a sergeant first class. She served at the 80th Training Command in Richmond, Va., for her final assignment.
Torres has continued to pursue a number of projects after her service. After leaving the Army, she joined the Pretrial Services Agency in Washington D.C., where she works with the Justice Department as a pretrial officer. In a reflection of her love for service, she also works to encourage and support Veterans, especially those in the Hispanic community, to use the skills accumulated during their service to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. Through doing so, she hopes to empower them to continue serving their communities after retirement from the military. To that end, she has published a book, “Dauntless,” in which she communicates her advice to Veterans for a successful shift to the business sector, and she records a podcast titled “Be Fearless,” uploading episodes to iTunes, Spotify and other platforms. She is also a mother to a Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Reggie.
We honor her service.
