Former LCPS teacher, principal publishes first novel

Retired Las Cruces Public Schools teacher and principal (at Lynn and Camino Real middle schools) Alton Ioerger has published his first novel, “The First Recruit.”

The book, which Ioerger described as a work of biographical fiction, is available as an e-book and in paperback through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple and other major booksellers, Ioerger said.

“With some exception, the plot and setting (of ‘The First Recruit’) centers around events in Europe during the Cold War. It is a study in violence and its target audience is men, particularly veterans, Blackwater-types or those whose interest runs towards the clandestine dark arts, like spying and political assassinations. Though the narrative and characters are fiction, a number of the historical references are true.

“The main character, James Witt, undergoes a series of military psychological evaluations which reveal that he possesses an array of inner personal traits: high levels of emotional stability, resilience for managing stress, tolerance and adaptability when presented with dangerous or unfamiliar circumstances, and exceptional levels of perseverance,” Ioerger said. “He could also hit a target. It was this set of combined qualities that got both he and his spotting partner, Sergeant Joseph Matthews, detached from their Army unit and transferred to Germany to work in a classified CIA project behind the Iron Curtain. The chapters that follow reveal in great detail how the government operated and moved human assets around in clandestine fashion in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. 

“Witt’s story is an absorbing journey into this opaque world of brutal national conflicts and espionage,” the author said. “In the end though, the CIA’s project self-destructs and is quickly buried in order to prevent public disclosure. This leaves Witt with no way back to the life he knew, and his character and integrity gets tested with the loss of his family and loved ones. He can never return to the life he had before and is left to find survival on his own terms as he mutely twists in a forever silent world of acute heartache and loneliness.

Ioerger grew up in Wells, a small, rural, southern Minnesota farming community. After a stint in the U.S. Army and a few years teaching high school in Australia, he enrolled in a graduate program at NMSU. Ioerger met his wife, Clara, in Las Cruces more than four decades ago, and they have never left, he said.

In addition to 25 years as an English teacher and principal with LCPS, Ioerger also worked for 10 years as an administrator in the Ysleta Public School District in El Paso.

The Ioergers are now both retired, with Clara continuing to volunteer at Mesilla Valley Hospice, her husband said. They enjoy camping and traveling.

The onset of the pandemic focused his thinking, Ioerger said. “I realized that I needed to get (the book) done before COVID-19 had a chance to end my someday project,” he said.