SPC MICHAEL OLIVERO

I'm a senior analyst for a defense contractor. I'm also a Soldier in the Army Reserve

As a senior analyst, I find odd problems, I solve them. I work with different teams of people - logistics teams, hardware teams, software teams - and I help gather data and bridge all the different groups together so that we can find a problem and solve it.

My employer looks for specific experiences before they hire you so that you can contribute something significant. [My employer thinks] "Which [candidates] ones are going to be the most effective in any particular program?" Somebody who knows something about the military, somebody who knows something about radars already - those are the kinds of things that my employer looks for.

They look at me and they say, "Here's a young guy who's proven himself in the military. We're hiring him. He's got all these qualifications. We know that he's trustworthy. Let's put him to work, let's see what he can do for us."

I wouldn't be able to balance out my career and civilian world or military career if it wasn't for my family. I commute for an hour and a half to work and it takes a lot of their time.

It makes me feel really good to see my boys on the weekend. We go out to the park, catch a movie or we'll go down to the drive-ins and say, "All right, we're going to spend family time together this weekend."

My wife, obviously, I have to support her and she has to support me. We take pretty good care of each other. We're best friends and if it wasn't for her I wouldn't be able to do the balancing act that I do.

I have a great job, I have a great family, good career and I'm back into the Army Reserve. It's perfect; it's exactly what I wanted.