From University Mascot to U.S. Army Officer

Landstuhl, Germany - After graduating from Louisiana State University and spending most of his time as a mascot, Public Health Command Europe Soldier decides to join the U.S. Army as an environmental science and engineering officer.

Texas-native 2nd Lt. Nathan Istre joined the U.S. Army straight after college in 2021 as a combat medic and later commissioned as a 72 D, known as environmental science and engineering officer.

Istre has been accustomed to the military life with both of his parents in the service.

"Joining just made sense and the Army has so many opportunities," said Istre. "I enlisted at first because I didn't want an office job. I wanted to be able to work in the field and after two years I commissioned to further develop my professional career."

At Public Health Command Europe, Istre is part of the Environmental Health Sciences Division and provides preventive medicine support to operational units across the entire footprint. EHS provides environmental engineering, entomological sciences, and health risk management expertise in garrison and deployment locations to promote, sustain, and improve the mission readiness of EUCOM, CENTCOM, and AFRICOM.

"Units that need our support will reach out to us and we will provide assets to conduct preventive medicine missions in form of soil, water or air sampling for example," said Istre. "I enjoy getting a taste of all the Army has to offer, in my career field we distribute individual support to anyone and get a peek into all sorts of missions."

According to Istre, he likes the variety that the job provides because every day is different. Recently, Istre conducted a base camp assessment in Africa. Environmental health hazards can seriously impact the mission and safety of the service members. It is an ongoing, never-ending duty to educate and perform sanitary inspections as well as water, soil, and air surveillance to reduce disease and nonbattle injury.

Istre has always enjoyed trying out new things. He earned a "biological engineering degree at LSU which is a pretty wide-ranging degree" and balanced his study time with joining the University mascot team. For four years, he wore the Mike the Tiger suit, the official LSU mascot, at football and basketball games, press conferences and charity events to represent his university.

His time as a mascot has shaped his leadership philosophy and influenced his life.

"It takes a certain amount of audacity and lack of fear to succeed," said Istre. "As a college mascot, you are the first one on the field and thousands of eyes stare at you which can be uncomfortable, but you just have to push through and know why you do it."

Istre applies the same mentality for his career in the Army, "I will keep going for as long as it energizes me. I will stay in for as long as the Army excites me."

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