‘We make sure recruits meet the requirements’

The desire to serve the country is not enough. New U.S. Army recruits must also shed pounds.

Sgt. 1st class Yovany Rivero, who is tasked with getting military recruits from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, acknowledged that recruitment in the CNMI has been “challenging,” in terms of helping the recruits meet the qualifications, especially the weight requirement.

“A lot of the challenge…is the weight issue on the island so we have to make sure we work on lowering the weight for some folks. Most of the age group that come in are from 17 to 21 [years old] and…we understand it is the culture,” he said.

Rivero, the U.S. Army’s active duty recruiter in the CNMI, arrived on island just three weeks ago and will be on duty here for two years. “We are really new so we are still getting used to the people.”

He said his first priority is U.S. Army recruitment and the second is community involvement.

“The recruitment process is the same in the U.S. We have to test and make sure recruits are qualified, their school, and background. We give them a test, send recruits to Guam for a physical, and enlist them.”

Rivero said recruitment is open to men and women ages 17 to 34, must be a U.S. citizen or green card holder, high school graduate, or a graduate of equivalent degree. They also must be physically fit.

Recruits with certain medical conditions may qualify but you have to inform recruiters beforehand what condition that is, he said.

A quota for army recruitment is set each year. For Saipan it is 45-50 qualified recruits.

“We try our best to meet our quota for recruitment each year because the U.S. Army is constantly retiring folks. [Or] guys move up and open up ranks in the bottom so we are continuously putting folks in the army,” Rivero said

On Saipan alone, the military has three reserve units that are part-time, mostly students or professionals that want to serve but can’t be active full-time.

“So we have three units on Saipan who are in dire need of reserves,” Rivero added.

Rivero, who has been an active duty recruiter for five years, supervises the recruits until they become soldiers.

He speaks highly of the Army and gives an assuring statement in the face of jitters in the region.

“The U.S. Army is always ready. We are a force that continues to grow. We train to fight. It is who we are. As a soldier, we stay fit to fight. We are always training. We are always maintaining our equipment. We are ready.”