When speaking with Captain Phillip G. Rendon, CPT, MI (BSRPT ’16), about his role as a company commander in the U.S. Army, Rendon draws many parallels between leading Soldiers in Korea and his education in event management at the University of Florida.

“My degree was learning how to work on large projects and with others,” Rendon said.

Transferable skills such as contracting, operations management and applying the five W’s of event management – who, what, when, where and way forward – have helped Rendon advance his career in the military over the past seven years.

As a high school student in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Rendon was accepted into one of the prestigious U.S. Military Academies, West Point, in 2012, but decided to pursue an education outside the military after receiving his UF acceptance letter. Upon completing his first semester in business administration, Rendon realized that his passions lay elsewhere.

“When I sat down with a counselor, I said I’m interested in event management, specifically event management within the eSport community,” Rendon said.

After considering other majors, he enrolled in tourism, events and recreation management – now the Department of Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management – within the UF College of Health & Human Performance. While at UF, he became involved in Gator Gaming, a student-run club, contracting with video game companies and organizing competitions. Additionally, his studies reinforced the importance of balancing multiple tasks for events and working collaboratively in team settings – skills that would later serve him well in the military.

Following graduation, Rendon stayed in Gainesville working for local businesses in event management. However, Rendon had always felt a calling back to service. In 2018, after visiting the U.S. Army recruiting office, he headed to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for basic training and officer candidacy school at Fort Benning in Georgia. Over the next seven years, he served as an Armor Lieutenant, leading a cavalry scout platoon at Fort Carson, Colorado and currently serves as a Military Intelligence Captain.

Now, as a company commander at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Rendon oversees aerial intelligence collection as well as the health, welfare and training of over 60 soldiers.

“In the Army, officers are very administrative and managerial. We’re planners,” Rendon said. “Instead of planning conferences, I’m planning trainings and intelligence operations. I’m able to use all of those people and planning skills.”

Rendon looks to his soldiers, many who are now beginning their college journeys or continuing along their military careers and navigating their own paths and shares the importance of exploration and self-discovery.

“It’s good to have a plan, but you just need to know that you want to try right now,” Rendon said. “Whether it ends up being a good or bad experience, you’ll learn something from it. Learn what you don’t want to do and learn what you love.”

[Profile added in 2025]

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