TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Sgt. Catherine J. Salvador, an avionics technician with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775, Marine Aircraft Group 41, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, first enlisted as an active duty Marine in 2010 out of her hometown of Hancock, Michigan.
“I joined the Marine Corps to follow in the footsteps of my brother,” said Salvador. “And to get out of my small hometown and do something different.”
After serving on active duty until 2015, she reenlisted in the Selected Marine Corps Reserve in 2016.
“I joined the Reserves, because I missed the aviation community when I got out,” said Salvador. “I also wanted to do more that I didn’t do when I was active duty.”
When Salvador is not drilling, she works full-time as a production controller for the United States Air Force.
“My Marine Corps and civilian job are both in the maintenance department, just different aircraft,” said Salvador. “I love my jobs. It’s like a puzzle, and I get to solve things that are out of the ordinary.”
In June, 2018, Salvador participated in Integrated Training Exercise 4-18 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, for the first time as a Reserve Marine. She serves as the collateral duty inspector for her shop, and was charged with the duties of supervising and teaching junior Marines in her military occupation specialty.
“The Marine Corps has given me my whole life,” said Salvador. “I wouldn’t have anything I have now, without it—my friends, my family, my career, everything.”
More Media