Councilmember, District 5, Gil Hernandez

BIOGRAPHY

Gil Hernandez is a veteran of the US Navy. He first joined the U.S. Navy in 1986, under the Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training (BOOST) program in San Diego, CA. A year later, Gil earned an NROTC Scholarship and attended Texas Tech University where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a minor in Naval Science.

In May of 1991, Gil was commissioned as US Naval Officer in the Surface Warfare community. He was stationed in San Diego, CA at the Naval Amphibious base on Coronado Island for training. He was then assigned to USS DUBUQUE (LPD-8) which was forward deployed in Sasebo, Japan. While serving on the USS DUBUQUE, he earned his Surface Warfare Qualification, became a “shellback” crossing the equator, and participated in multiple amphibious operations with foreign Navies to include the South Korean, Thailand, Malaysian and Australian navies. He even participated in the first joint amphibious exercise with the Russian Navy in Vladivostok, Russia.

In April of 1995, he transferred to south Texas aboard the USS DEXTROUS (MCM-13) as the Operation Officer deploying to the Persian Gulf less than a year later earning the Navy Achievement Medal during the deployment. Upon returning, he took over operation on the USS CIEF (MCM-14). He then transferred and served as the Director of Mine Warfare (MW) Training, at the Afloat Training Group at Naval Station Ingleside where he was the officer in charge of training and certification Mine Warfare crews for deployment overseas. In April of 1999, he resigned his commission after marrying is wife Anissa Rivera Hernandez. Gil and Anissa have three sons, (Marcus 24 / Adan 22/ Ian 13) and one daughter (Carissa 17).

After serving in the Navy, he worked for the Coca-Cola Company holding several positions over 18 years. In his last role with Coca-Cola, he served as the National Sales Manager for South Texas. In 2010, Gil was appointed by Nueces County to serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority where he spearheaded the RTA’s conversion to natural gas.

Gil was elected to the Corpus Christi City Council in December 2018, and has been re-elected twice. Gil is now serving his third term where he has been instrumental in changing the direction of our city.