When Dublin graduate Eric Tovar was a senior in high school, he had a frustration that a lot of students will feel at one point or another. “I remember sitting in a world geography class as a senior, and telling my teacher I would never use this in my life,” he said.
But where Tovar’s career ended up taking him, he eventually realized that his world geography course had been more useful than he could have ever imagined.
As a geospatial analyst for the Marine Corps, Tovar found himself creating maps of other countries to guide troops on the ground. “When I graduated from my geospatial school, I came back to my teacher in uniform and apologized to her and told her, ‘Look at me now. I’m sorry. You were right,’” he said. “She actually sat me down in the front of class and had me tell the story.”
Tovar graduated in 2000, and joined the Marine Corps two weeks later. “I had my 18th birthday in boot camp, which was miserable, because that’s the one place you don’t want the additional attention,” he said.
From 2000 to 2004 he was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. “My job was to transport Marines, ammunition, and cargo,” he said. When 9-11 happened, Tovar became a Humvee instructor, and taught tactical vehicular operations to Marines that were deploying to Iraq.
After his first four years in the military, Tovar changed his occupational specialty. “I became a geospatial intelligence analyst,” he said. “In this capacity, I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and went to Iraq, and then I deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom, and that was in Afghanistan.”
His job consisted of making maps for troops. “As a geospatial analyst, I was downloading overhead imagery, commercial imagery, and making maps for our Marines that were on the ground to let them know where they’re going,” he said. “It basically gave them an overview of the area that they were going to be in. Some of these areas were remote locations where there was no Google Maps or anything like that, just somewhere in the middle of a desert, so trying to find roads, trying to find buildings, but also being able to determine what type of ground they were going to run into, like, could they land helicopters here? Could they land an airplane or troop carrier or drop cargo?”
When he came back, he talked to his career monitor. “I said, ‘Hey, I’m tired of seeing the desert. Can you send me somewhere different?’ So he sent me to Hawaii. I loved it. It was paradise every day.”
Tovar’s job there was to support disaster response operations throughout the Pacific. “This was probably my most favorite assignment, because I traveled to various countries and I met with various foreign military leaders, and basically the purpose was to foster relationships and to build trust in case they ever needed us in support of disaster operations.”
He got to travel to Singapore, Thailand, New Caledonia, Australia, and Guam, to name a few places. “I was all over the place,” he said.
After Hawaii, Tovar and his family moved to Washington, D.C., where he finished out his career with another two years as a geospatial analyst and retired in 2020.
“I loved the Marine Corps. I would have stayed as long as I could, but I am married and I have four kids, and it was time for me to take the back seat and let my wife explore her career and pursue what she wants to do in life, and as well as let my kids settle down and build long-term friendships,” he said.
The family moved back to Texas, and Tovar found a remote job working for a military contractor, Bigbear, doing the same type of geospatial work he was doing before he retired. He currently serves the company as a program manager.
“On an average day, I manage five different teams for five different projects,” he said. “I’m on multiple phone calls trying to ensure that our customer gets what they need to do their job, and that the folks on my team have what they need to do their job. It’s a lot of meetings all day, but it’s always great to serve the people that are doing the job in a leadership capacity. It’s fulfilling.”
Tovar has no plans to switch careers right now. “I’ve always wanted to be tied into the military and support our military community in one capacity or another,” he said.
Recently he’s been doing more work in his community on the side. “I’ve joined Make A Wish Central and South Texas region as a council member,” he said. “I really want to lean into that and be able to grant wishes to children who are suffering from critical injuries or illnesses.”
As a council member, Tovar meets with the families and the children, conducts interviews, and finds out what they want to wish for. “Whether it’s meeting a celebrity, whether it’s being able to go on a trip such as Disneyland, or whether they want something that fulfills their life, we come together with the community and the organization to bring that wish to fruition.”
Tovar currently lives in San Antonio with his wife Francesca, who he met in 2003 while stationed in Southern California. “We basically dated for a year and a half, and I got orders, and I said, ‘Do you want to do this thing with me? Because it’s time for me to move.’ And she has been along for the ride ever since.”
The Tovars have four children, Giuliana 18, Giovanni, 15, Gabriel, 13, and Gino, 7. “My free time consists of me hanging out with my family,” Tovar said. “Whether we’re doing outdoor activities or finding cool, new spots to visit or trying new foods, that’s basically what we do.”
Tovar’s mother, Sonia, lives in Killeen, and his father Joe lives in Odessa.
Throughout his career, Tovar and his family had to move frequently for his military career. He feels inspired by his family’s resilience in the face of this challenge.
“My greatest inspiration would be my family, just their ability to adjust and adapt to the alwayschanging environment,” he said. “We moved around every three years, and we went from coast to coast. We met friends who became family. And so my family’s ability to adapt and embrace those friendships and the cultures of everywhere that we got to experience to live — it was just so great. Seeing them overcome and adjust and succeed just kept me going.”
Tovar’s advice to future Dublin graduates is to not back away from a challenge. “Pursuing challenges will not only create life-long change, but also inspire and guide those around you,” he said.
Where are they now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.