The son of enthic Russian party-members from Kazakhstan, Ivanov was called up for duty in late 1998. His father managed to secure him a slot at officer training school. While he is a good soldier and Party loyalist , he has concluded that the war is essentially over . He would very much like to go home, and thinks that American soldiers might want to do the same thing. In the meantime, he is using his position at the bridge to shakedown travelers and line his pockets, get them better rations, etc. His minor corruption is not out of the ordinary for the year 2000, so his higher headquarters have ignored whatever complaints they may have heard about him.
Lieutenant Ivanov will do virtually anything for money, but will insist upon very high fees, and will perhaps attempt treachery if it seems that even more money can be gained by doing so.