Future Soldier Ivan Rivera

Rivera, Ivan a photo by Official Army Future Soldier Center on Flickr.

Hey. My name is Ivan Rivera. I'm 27 years old and a father-to-be. When I first thought about joining the ARMY was when I was 18. At that time, a recruiter went to my former high school to offer information to students who wanted to follow a military career. But when I talked to the recruiter he told me I was too fat. Can you imagine how I felt? I really wanted to be important. To be a hero. I was so disappointed that I gave up almost immediately. Almost ten years later (mid December 2010 to be exact) I was at my workplace and a work partner was talking about how proud she was for her sons. The three of them are currently in the Army. And that kinda gave me the desire to try to join again. But there was one detail. I still was overweight. But this time I was decided. When the recruiter took my measurement he told me I was like 10% over. I was 278 pounds that day (February 12) but I went and took the ASVAB anyway. And i did pass it with a good score. Then came the really challenging part. I have to lose about 40 pounds asap. After the first month of intense training and diet, I lost 38 pounds and went from 278 to 240. I was so happy looking at myself. I felt really good and my recruiter was proud of me. After that I went to MEPS, passed the physical test and made the Oath of Enlistment. That was the BEST day of my life. Today I have to wait a few weeks to ship. But I am proud to say I will serve my nation, my people, my family. I am proud to belong to the greatest family in the whole world. I am proud to be a Future Soldier.

Pvt. Rivera.
13D Future Soldier
US ARMY