SGT. IGNACIO ALVAREZ Army Recruiter
By Sandra McKinney “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
Alvarez taking the oath of reenlistment in 2015
Alvarez looking very handsome in uniform as he graduated from basic training
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orn and raised in Gamerco, New Mexico, Ignacio Alvarez knew from a very early age that he wanted to enter the military. “I remember playing with GI Joe dolls when I was just a little kid,” he smiles. “I knew that was the path I wanted to take in life.” Alvarez made sure to live a clean and respectful life. It was important to him that he always make his mother Rita proud of him. “I am part Navajo,” he proudly states, “and it was important to the family that I learned silversmithing and inlay work. I did that at a young age. It was fun to learn the art and to be creative.” As an older youth, he recognized the need for a steady after-school job and started out at McDonald’s. He also learned the skills needed to work landscaping jobs, enjoying the outdoors. Wanting more hours and a bigger paycheck, he then worked at Love’s Truck Stop as a cashier. This all happened up to his junior year at Gallup High School. “For my senior year, I quit work and applied myself more to my studies and started training in an exercise program to increase my physical skills, preparing for entry into the U.S. Army. I met with a recruiter
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and took the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test) and was sworn in to a delayed entry program in November of 2011.” The ASVAB is not just for entry into the military, some colleges also require that the test be taken. Graduation day arrived quickly in May 2012. Alvarez took a little time for himself after graduation and enjoyed time with his family. He then reported for Basic Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in July of 2012. This was the beginning of his career in the U.S. Army. Alvarez was assigned to Foxtrot Company 2/47 Infantry Regiment. In November 2012, Alvarez entered Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and then moved on to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, home of The United States Disciplinary Barracks Maximum Security Prison (USDB). He was assigned to the 291 Military Police Company. The USDB is the U.S. military’s only maximum-security facility that houses male service members convicted at court-martial for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Only enlisted prisoners with sentences over ten years, commissioned officers, and prisoners convicted of offenses related to national security are confined to the USDB. Corrections personnel at the facility are Army Corrections Specialists (MOS 31E) trained at the U.S. Army Military Police school located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, as well as Marine and Air Force corrections personnel. “There were some
Alvarez-Military Police in Afghanistan really bad dudes there in the prison,” Alvarez frowns. “Watching over 400 inmates was a time when I learned to always be aware of my surroundings, to never take an action for granted, and to be on high-alert at all times.” “This training was a stepping-stone for deployment in October of 2013 to Bagram, Afghanistan, for Operation Detention,” Alvarez states. “This was where we trained the Afghani Police on how to run a detention facility. There were Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners, plus Pakistanis in this controversial facility.” The first American Detention Center at Bagram Airbase was set up soon after U.S. troops arrived in the country in late 2001 to help topple the Taliban government. Within months it had earned a reputation as a brutal and dangerous place. With the greater presence of U.S. Military, the facility took on a more structured atmosphere. “Some of my other duties involved personal security detail to get the Afghani judges to court,” stated Sgt. Alvarez. “Though not in an area of fighting, this was still a time of high-alert.” Alvarez stayed in Bagram until July 2014. Not long after his departure the detention facility was closed. “At this point, I returned to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for another stint at
