Photo By Maria McClure | Sgt. 1st Class Jared Alvarado, a talent manager serving in the Reserve Personnel...... read more read more
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FORT KNOX, Ky. – After months of rigorous training and preparation, Sgt. 1st Class Jared Alvarado was determined to bring home the 2024 Adjutant General Corps Soldier of the Year title to the U.S. Army Human Resources Command.
About halfway through the competition at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, last April, it was time to prove his mettle in the Army Combat Fitness Test.
“We had finished the deadlift, the power throw, the hand release push-ups – I was pretty much maxing all the events,” Alvarado said.
It was time for the sprint-drag-carry. The artificial turf field was still damp from the morning dew, making it slick underfoot.
As Alvarado neared the edge of the field, he extended his reach to turn and sprint back, but instead, he slipped and fell on his shoulder and felt a pop. Quickly, he regrouped, started to run again, and just as quickly noticed something was not right.
“I realized my arm wasn't coming with me. It felt like my arm was dragging behind me,” Alvarado said. “I could feel my fingers, so I knew I didn't break anything. I was holding my arm, and I'm like ‘this can't be happening. No, there's no way.’”
Alvarado tore his labrum and dislocated his shoulder. For him, the 2024 competition was over.
More than hunting for good stuff
Getting injured and dropping out of the competition was a tough reality for the Graham, North Carolina, native. What made it worse is Alvarado felt he was letting down everyone at HRC who supported him.
“I went there ready,” he said. “I trained for this. I prepared for this. I was ready.”
Alvarado’s preparation for the 2024 competition included completing the master resiliency training course. Many of the concepts he learned during MRT provided him with techniques he used to calm his nerves before and during competition. After being injured, those MRT concepts proved even more beneficial.
“I see this as some of the best training I have ever done,” Alvarado said. “Normally, when you hear master resiliency training or MRT, you're thinking to hunt the good stuff. I learned that it's not about hunting the good stuff and faking it like reality isn't what it is, but it's hunting for what is good, while continuing to acknowledge this situation. The true meaning of MRT is to build optimism. And so, in that moment, I was crushed – the injury happened, and it was out of my control.”
Leaning on MRT provided him the clarity to look beyond his injury and think about how to move forward.
“MRT teaches that when adversity happens, there are the heat of the moment thoughts like, ‘man, I let everyone down. There's nothing I can do,’” Alvarado said. “But when I started thinking outside the box and realizing I didn't let anyone down, I was able to start thinking about how I prepare to come back.”
His intent is to return to South Carolina and bring the AG Soldier of the Year title to HRC in 2025.
“Absolutely, I am finishing this,” Alvarado said.
Proud to serve
Alvarado’s father was an Army Ranger. He planned to join the Army after high school. A conversation with a Marine recruiter changed that trajectory – before Alvarado knew it, he found himself at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.
“I was adopted into a big Family, so as far as going to college, it was going to be tough,” he said. “I did not want to go to community college and the Marine Corps was an opportunity for me to have something that was mine. I’ve always taken pride in being an American – period.”
When the time came in 2012 for Alvarado to re-enlist after four years of service, his only option was a job with constant rotations. As the father of a young child, he did not want to be on constant deployments and so he decided to transition out of the service.
Alvarado started college and went to work for General Dynamics outside of Fort Lee, now Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia.
He worked out at the gym on post, and often, two women would engage him in conversation about the Army.
“I didn't realize they were sergeants major in the Army Reserve,” Alvarado said. “They kept asking me when was I going to enlist.”
Those conversations spurred him to join the Army Reserve as a Troop Program Unit, or TPU Soldier.
TPU Soldiers serve on a part-time basis.
Alvarado was assigned the 94th Training Division in Virginia until his ex-wife received permanent change of station orders to Fort Hood, now Fort Cavazos, Texas. He became an Army Reserve administrator as a military technician.
MILTECHs are federal civilian employees who also serve as Soldiers in the Army Reserve as a condition of employment. During a course at Fort Knox, now retired Brig. Gen. Barbara Owens asked the class if anyone was interested in joining the Active Guard Reserve, or AGR, program. Never wanting to pass up an opportunity, Alvarado said: “Why not me.”
“I didn't know what it was, but it sounded cool, and I've been serving as an AGR Soldier ever since,” he said.
His first assignment took Alvarado to a petroleum support company in Denton, Texas, during which he participated in hurricane recovery operations in Houston, Texas, after Harvey devastated parts of Louisiana and Texas.
Following that mission, Alvarado was promoted to staff sergeant, which caused him to be over grade in his position, so he deployed to Kuwait and forward deployed to Syria. While deployed, he received permanent change of station orders to serve in a senior human resources sergeant position at an engineer battalion standing up in Monterey, California.
Upon completion of his assignment in California, Alvarado considered attending the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy but was nominated and selected to serve at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Today, Alvarado serves as a talent manager assigned to the Reserve Personnel Management Directorate, U.S. Army Human Resources Command. It is a job he loves though it can be challenging at times, he said.
“Sometimes you can't make a Soldier’s wishes happen,” Alvarado said. “The Army also has needs – if I can align that with the Soldier’s wants and line that up with their career map, then I’ve got a match made in heaven. But sometimes you can't match all three and the mission always comes first – we say it in the Soldier’s Creed, we live by that as NCOs.”
Looking back on his time at HRC, even the hard days are worth the effort because, at the end of the day, we help Soldiers further their careers, Alvarado said.
“The people here, the opportunities and seeing how everything works – you know, some folks avoid Kentucky because of the location, but coming here to HRC and being able to see how things work has been great,” he said.
The Army is filled with opportunities for those interested in taking on challenges and AGR is no different, Alvarado said.
“When those sergeants major told me there was opportunity in the Reserve, they didn't lie,” he said. “I'm just always grateful – opportunity started there. This is an opportunity to have something that is yours. It is scary at first because it's big, it's like, oh man this is serious business. But at the same time, there is just so much opportunity, immediate opportunity.”
People often connect the military with war, yet it is much more than that. It is a culture, a lifestyle, Alvarado said.
“This is something I chose and it's a part of me, and it always will be,” he said. “The more that I've given, the more the Army has given back. There's not been a time when I felt like the Army hasn't worked for me. There are times I've had to make sacrifices, sure. I have a son who’s in Texas and a new baby boy in Kentucky. I've spent time away from them – that's hard but accepting that it is easier because I understand my responsibilities as a Soldier.”
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2025 16:01 |
| Story ID: | 493613 |
| Location: | US |
| Hometown: | GRAHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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