@pokeris4funMy story: Aztlan Portal
There is a mix of ordinary people, soldiers, and elite "Operators" (Special Operations personnel), their lives are effected, both for good and bad, by an alien invasion.
A young Mexican civil engineer grows in maturity, and dares things he never imagined, a Sicario, betrayed by the Mexican Army, also gains new opportunities, as does a young woman working for her father's corporation, and a young man barely in his teens, he is enslaved (more like a "Jannisary"), but the aliens also give him justice for his murdered brother (something the Mexican government didn't even try to do) and opportunities for advancement he never thought he would have. Several officers in the Mexican Army eventually get opportunities for advancement on merit, they would never have in the peacetime Mexican Army.
Characters from the USA are mostly members of Special Operations (or those who provide services to them); several individuals do get opportunities they would not likely have had if the aliens didn't invade.
Its not exactly like Refusnik's stories, since I am telling a story about Asymmetrical Warfare, without violating any NDAs, etc.