Army officer returns to review former high-school command
As the Evans High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps' Knight Battalion marched by during its annual spring parade Wednesday, 1st Lt. Daniel Rivette saluted the group that he formerly commanded.
Rivette, a 1997 Evans High graduate, was invited back to the school to serve as the reviewing officer, who only inspects the companies, for the battalion's spring parade. He spent all four years of high school in the JROTC program, which is taught by his father, retired Lt. Col. Patrick Rivette.
As cadet major, Daniel Rivette commanded the group his senior year and spent three years on the Raider team. He captained the team his junior and senior years.
Daniel Rivette, 24, said coming back to review the assembled companies of cadets brought back memories of being on that same field being reviewed himself.
"It was entertaining, to say the least," he said with a big smile. "It makes me wonder what I looked like out there."
After graduation, Daniel Rivette, like his father, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from which he graduated in 2001, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
Daniel Rivette is an Airborne Ranger and SCUBA-qualified, and currently serves in the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry of the 3rd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Carson, Colo.
After serving 11 months in Iraq as a rifle and platoon scout leader, Daniel Rivette took the opportunity to visit his parents, Patrick and Miriam Rivette, and his brother, Adam, 22, who just graduated from West Point and U.S. Army Ranger School and is currently in the Bradley Leader Course at Fort Benning, Ga.
Daniel Rivette may get to command his younger brother soon as Adam will be transferred to Fort Carson in a couple of weeks.
Being reviewed by someone who once stood in your position is actually less stressful, said Cadet Maj. Brian Tanner, who commands the school's battalion.
"It is a little easier," Tanner said. "He already knows what's going on. There is less pressure to not make a mistake."
Though the reviewing officer role is more of an honor and has no impact on the grades of the class, it is their chance to show off marching formations. Rivette said he enjoyed being on the opposite end of the ritual.
"It was cool," he said.