'Grey Wolf' Spouses Re-up Together

By Pfc. Ben Fox

Standing side-by-side during a ceremony, a husband and wife from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, raised their right hands and re-enlisted at Forward Operating Base Warhorse Nov. 6.

Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Rivera (left), a native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and Staff Sgt. Leticia Rivera (right), a native of Indio, Calif., Soldiers who are married to each other in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, review their re-enlistment contracts as Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Helmes, a career counselor with the brigade, explains them at Forward Operating Base Warhorse Nov. 6. The couple decided to re-enlist together to show each other support. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ben Fox, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.)

Sgt. 1st Class Rodney Rivera, Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and Staff Sgt. Leticia Rivera, Distribution Company A, 215th Brigade Support Battalion, re-enlisted together as a sign of support for each other.

"This means she will be there for me and I will be there for her," said Rodney, a native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. "So few people get to do that - re-enlist with your wife in a combat zone," he added.

Without her husband's support, Leticia, a native of Indio, Calif., said she would not have re-enlisted.

Raising their right hands, Sgt, 1st Class Rodney Rivera (middle), a native of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and Staff Sgt. Leticia Rivera (right), a native of Indio, re-enlist together during a ceremony at Forward Operating Base Warhorse Nov. 6. The Rivera's are married and decided to do the ceremony together as a sign of support for each other. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Ben Fox, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs.)

"He's actually supporting me doing the job I do. If he wouldn't have been here with me, I would have gotten out," she said.

The couple, who met in Iraq during their last deployment, were married in March, said Rodney.

Rodney said he didn't re-enlist for money, but to support his wife.

She said she did it to support him as well.

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