TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Cpl. Jan Eric Schaeuble, a rifleman and forward observer with Fox Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, based in Eastover, South Carolina, traveled all the way to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, with his unit, to participate in realistic, total force training, at Integrated Training Exercise 4-18.
Schaeuble is accustomed to traveling long distances. Schaeuble was born and raised in Germany, before moving to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2008. Schaeuble originally moved to the United States with his family for his father’s job, but soon decided this was where he wanted to stay.
“I joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 2014,” said Schaeuble. “I did it because it was a good way to get citizenship, and because my dad was in the military in Germany, so I wanted to do what he did too.”
Schaeuble went through the process of becoming a Marine and U.S. citizen simultaneously. Both boot camp and the path to citizenship were challenging. The citizenship process included interviews, paperwork, a citizenship test, and more. Schaeuble obtained his citizenship at the end of boot camp, on family day.
“I had become a United States citizen and a United States Marine in the same week,” said Schaeuble. “It was pretty life changing.”
Schaeuble participated in ITX 4-18 with his unit from June 12-26, 2018. When Schaeuble is not drilling, he works as an industrial maintenance technician at Bosch, the same company as his father.
“ITX has been great this year,” said Schaeuble. “I’ve learned a lot, and exercises like ITX really test our skills and show us where we are as far as our MOS proficiency and how we perform as a unit.”