SGT IGOR TYAPUGIN

SGT Igor Tyapugin: I'm Sergeant Igor Tyapugin. I'm a 15 Uniform, which is a Chinook helicopter flight engineer. I've been in the Army Reserve for six years.

As a civilian, I work for a grocery store as a bookkeeper, and I'm also a full-time student at City University.

I was interested in aviation since I was a little kid, so when I grew up I decided to pursue that interest and the Army Reserve helped me do that.

A Chinook flight engineer is an onboard mechanic who monitors the systems during flight.

The best part to me was the hands-on training I got on the aircraft. Taking off the rotor blades, taking off engines, putting them back on was really an interesting experience for me.

I can do two things with my life at the same time, whereas most people just do one. I learned how to work on helicopters, I get to fly in them, so you know what, yeah, I fulfilled my dream.