A greater mission: Army vet’s career exceeds expectations
As big as New York City is, with its huge population and layers of culture, it wasn’t enough to contain Felix Figueroa. As a very young man he had a sense there was something beyond the boroughs of the Big Apple awaiting him. “What got me off of the couch and into the recruiters office,” Figueroa said, was a desire to explore life beyond “the surroundings of the city. I needed to get out of there.” The Army was a tradition in his family. His father was a Korean War-era veteran, his uncle Tony did two tours of duty with the Army during the Vietnam War and his brother, Edwin Robles, also served in that branch of the Armed Forces. It was Figueroa’s hope that the Army could transform his life with a career that would produce “something greater than myself, a greater mission.” Figueroa enlisted in the Army in December 1997, and described his career journey traversed “an unconventional path defined by adaptability and a willingness to take on new challenges.” During his 23 years of active duty, Figueroa, who resides in Dunkirk with his wife, Damaris, jumped at and into a plethora of opportunities that emerged along the
