FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. — In a valley under the mountainous countryside of Puerto Rico, sat a boy laying plans at a table of men.
In the quiet and historic town of San Germán, with its cobblestone streets and old buildings, the boy broke with convention using a prudent, unassuming positioning of domino bones.
Even as a child, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Erick Pagan Rivera, now a drill sergeant with Charlie Company, 16th Ordnance Battalion, at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia, showed a modest expertise in achieving success against the odds.
“In Puerto Rico, they take playing dominoes very seriously,” said the boy’s older brother, Andres Pagan, a project coordinator for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. “It’s like a life and death thing.”
Despite its serious nature, the national game where relationships are built and sustained is considered a family game, just not one that mixes boys with men.
“Normally teenagers or younger than that are not allowed at the table,” Andres said. “It's only for adults, but my grandfather used to let Erick play. He was so smart, and I remember seeing my grandfather sometimes get flustered because he couldn’t believe how smart this kid was at a young age.”
Erick displayed perfect sportsmanship when he won, Andres said.
“He didn’t brag,” Andres said. “He didn’t rub it in his face. He just looked up, smiled, and you could see that he was just happy to be there and share that moment with his grandfather, and my father and his uncles.”
The Army is a Family
Now Pagan Rivera shares moments and smiles with fellow drill sergeants, officers, school instructors and students of the U.S. Army Ordnance School.
He is still winning competitions, and he is still doing so with humility.
When Pagan Rivera won the 59th Ordnance Brigade's 2024 Drill Sergeant of the Year, for example, he felt a sense of accomplishment but not a sense of superiority, he said.
“I don’t believe that I’m better than my peers; I don’t have that mindset ever,” Pagan Rivera said. “But, I like to challenge myself, so when my advisor asked if I want to go to Drill Sergeant of the Quarter, I said, ‘Yes, send me.’ That’s just me.”
Then, he put himself through the hard work necessary in preparing for the competition.
“He’s one of those guys who loves to be great, but won’t rub it in, won’t throw it in your face,” Andres said. “To him it’s just like, ‘I just did what I need to do.’”
For Pagan Rivera, what matters most is the continual effort toward reaching the zenith of self-improvement.
“Drill Sgt. Pagan Rivera encountered some obstacles in his journey to win the DSOY competition, but he did not let them deter him from achieving his goal to be the best,” said Staff Sgt. Jorge L. Rosario, also a drill sergeant for Charlie Company.
What has been required of Pagan Rivera to reach the heights he has in the Army has been nothing short of a tremendous climb.
The learning curve has been steep.
The Army as Immersion-Based Learning
When Pagan Rivera joined the Army, he did not know English.
“Basic training was stressful at first because I couldn’t understand what they were telling me,” Pagan Rivera said. “I let others go first to actually see what we have to do, then I would go myself after seeing what others’ mistakes were in order for me to be successful. I was quiet the whole time, trying to stay low.”
In many ways, though, he was also well prepared for basic training, as he had over two decades of practice in keeping his head down and doing the right thing.
Andres, who used to visit Puerto Rico as a youth in the summer on school break, said that Erick as a child was attentive and respectful.
“He did what was asked of him by my father or his mother,” Andres said. “Never got in trouble. You couldn’t ask for a better brother. He just did the right thing all the time.”
Pagan Rivera, after earning one of the highest GPAs at his high school, went on to obtain a Bachelor’s in Computer Science at Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.
While working through his studies and despite having earned scholarships, he also labored late hours at McDonald’s — often until 1 a.m. — to help his family financially.
“Being raised in Puerto Rico, I was in a low-income family,” Pagan Rivera said.
Part of the reason Pagan Rivera went to college and part of the reason he joined the Army was for opportunity.
“I saw people in my community having jobs that didn’t pay well or paid minimum wage,” Pagan Rivera said. “They didn’t have any certifications, credentials or education. I would be the only one in my family to finish college.”
Still, he credits his family for helping him establish the work ethic and growth mindset necessary to achieve his degree.
I learned from my brother, who was a Marine, to never give up, to always try to be better and always help others,” Pagan Rivera said. “He was my role model growing up. We talked on the phone almost every single day.”
Andres, though, said that Erick seemed to have these qualities innate in his character.
“He went to university, tutored and always wanted to help people, loves his family, has a lot of great core values that I respect,” Andres said. “He gives his all. Our father is the same way, everybody loves him. He’ll never say no to you if you need help. He’s always there and won’t ask for anything in return.”
There is also an element of culture and community involved where Pagan Rivera grew up in Puerto Rico; people are accustomed to rely on one another.
“Where I lived, there were a lot of old people, so we were always helping out,” Pagan Rivera said. “We had two or three hurricanes before I left for the United States.”
“An Army is a team. It lives, sleeps, eats and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse [expletive]" — Gen. George S. Patton
Another hill to climb for Pagan Rivera was adapting to a change in culture, coming from a small, rural area in Puerto Rico to mainland U.S.
“The biggest cultural difference between here and there is diversity,” Pagan Rivera said. “There you are always around people like you, the same values, the same customs. Once you join the Army and you get to the United States, the cultural diversity can be a shock for some people. You get uncomfortable trying to figure out what things you can do and don’t, so you can fit within the group.”
Still, one commonality between his little hometown and big Army that Pagan Rivera was able to rely on was a culture of teamwork.
Where Pagan Rivera probably developed the most in regard to his U.S. Army communication skills was at Advanced Individual Training for six months as a computer/detection systems repairer at Fort Gordon (now Fort Eisenhower), Ga.
“I learned a lot — to include English — because I had really good classmates, all the Soldiers that were there for the school who taught me how to speak proper English,” Pagan Rivera said. “I had three friends at AIT who said, ‘We’re going to teach you,’ because I was also in charge of my class at AIT, so I asked for help and tried to absorb as much English as I could.”
Pagan Rivera chose the Military Occupational Specialty because it was one of the most appealing for him based on his education and his understanding of electronics.
He graduated with honors.
Now he is leveraging that MOS and his collegiate degree into a highly-sought-after opportunity handling network communications for the White House Communications Agency.
Pagan laid plans to select his next duty position before the Army selected his next position for him. After a lengthy application and interview process, he was selected in January 2024 and will begin the five-year assignment in January 2025.
Until then, he continues mentoring young Soldiers as a drill sergeant.
The Army as an Opportunity for Personal and Professional Growth
“As noncommissioned officers, we never put ourselves first,” Pagan Rivera said.
The approach to leadership that Pagan Rivera takes is one of servant leadership; the Army Value that resonates most with him is selfless service.
Drill Sgt. Pagan is an avid team player who does not hesitate to sacrifice his personal time to help others achieve common goals, Rosario said.
“In my class that I have right now, I have five that are coming from Puerto Rico, and their English is as bad as mine when I first joined the Army,” Pagan Rivera said.
He pulled them aside and offered advice based on his own life experience, lessons learned, mistakes made and the perseverance required to reach new heights on the way to success in the Army.
“You have to stop hanging around only one another because you’re not going to learn this way,” Pagan Rivera said to the troops. “I’m sure you enlisted into the Army to better yourselves.”
Then, he addressed them with the class altogether and voiced that the five Soldiers are in the same situation that he was seven years ago.
“So, my recommendation for the rest of class was to help them out because someday they will be in my position, and I’m sure they would like to know how to speak proper English,” Pagan Rivera said.
Drill Sgt. Pagan Rivera demonstrates the courage to share his story with his Soldiers because his story contains examples of continuing forward in the face of adversity that they can relate to and use for inspiration.
“Don’t be scared to make mistakes because the Army gives you a bunch of opportunities,” Pagan Rivera said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, you failed the first time, you’re out.’ Get comfortable being uncomfortable. The only way you can learn is by making mistakes.”
Whether one is learning a new language or traversing a new career such as the military, one does well to persevere and maintain a growth mindset.
When Pagan Rivera reflects on the achievements of his career so far, he lists mental preparedness as a prominent factor in navigating the dynamic work environment that is the Army day-to-day.
“Having a can-do attitude will get you through whatever challenge ahead of you or that you put yourself through,” Pagan Rivera said.
Not everyone in the small town of San Germán might have predicted that the boy Erick Pagan Rivera would have ascended to success the likes of DSOY or handling network communications for the president, but the men in his family who watched him lay down winning stone after winning stone at the dominoes table might have predicted a similar outcome.
Certainly his grandfather saw a special potential in the boy.
“I have a 16-year old son who looks up to him as well,” Andres said. “He’s a great role model. I have his pictures up, when he graduated from jump school. Definitely somebody we’re very proud of. It’s an honor to have someone like that in your family.”
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