Master Chief Petty Officer Tony Gonzales split time being raised in San Antonio, Devine, and Camp Wood Hills, Texas.

As a career Cryptologist, he has been stationed at the Navy Information Operations Detachment Kaneohe Bay, HI, U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, USS MICHAEL MURPHY in Pearl Harbor, HI, Center for Information Warfare Training Center in Pensacola, Florida, Office of Legislative Affairs in Washington, D.C., and Navy Information Operations Command in San Antonio, Texas.

Tony has deployed multiple times in support of combat operations to Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), and in support of regional security operations throughout Asia. He previously served on Capitol Hill as a Department of Defense Legislative Fellow in U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s office where he contributed to the defense, foreign policy, and intelligence portfolios.

As an active member in the community, he founded the Tony Gonzales Foundation, a non-profit focused on empowering and encourage growth and development in impoverished areas of San Antonio by uniting local businesses, schools, and families. Additionally, he serves on the Central and South Texas Board of Trustees for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to granting wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.

In 2018, Tony was selected as a National Security Fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a non-profit, non-partisan Washington D.C. institute focused on foreign policy and national security. The same year, he was elected as the Community Representative for the City of San Antonio Head Start Policy Council where he oversees a budget of $32.5 million devoted to early childhood development.

Tony also serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland system where he instructs counterterrorism, U.S. Government, and political science courses. Tony holds a Graduate Certificate in Legislative Studies from Georgetown University, a Master’s degree in International Relations from American Public University and is a Ph.D. candidate in International Development with an emphasis on Security Studies and International Politics at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Tony is married to Angel Gonzales and has five wonderful children: Christina, Jesus, Emmanuel, Daniel, and Gabriel.