VAZIANI TRAINING BASE, Georgia -- If the non-commissioned officers run the Marine Corps, it’s the lance corporals and below who make the Marine Corps. They are the ones who execute the orders given from the commanding officer on down.
The junior Marines who belong to 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, here for Immediate Response 2008, prove that it’s the lance corporals and below who are the backbone of the Marine Corps, and each one has a story to tell.
Pvt. Jason W. Hobson, a rifleman with 3/25, joined the Marine Corps this year to get some adventure and help provide better for his wife and their young son.
“In the drywall business, you’re either real busy or there is no work at all,” said Hobson. “This helps balance out not being able to work sometimes. I also want to join the police department one day, and I knew being a Marine would better my chances. I know that being a Marine would not only give me more structure, but it would help me give my son more structure.”
Hobson checked into his unit one week before deploying to the country of Georgia.
“It was a bit of a surprise,” Hobson said. “I wasn’t quite prepared. But being here I can see that the sacrifices being made are worth it. We are helping the Georgians learn how to be better infantry soldiers.”
Pfc. Andrew N. Deeb, another rifleman with 3/25, who is also on his annual training exercise, said he joined the Marines for the excitement.
“I wanted to do something exciting with my life instead of sitting around and doing nothing,” Deeb said. “I always wanted to do this, and it’s pretty motivating now knowing that I am a Marine. I’m also trying to get into the Columbus police force to add even more excitement to my life. Every day is something different.”
There have always been many different reasons for Marines to join the Corps, and although excitement and adventure are among the top reasons, so are structure and discipline. Pfc. Chris J. McConnell joined for both excitement and structure.
McConnell joined right out of high school. He is registered for the fall semester at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Other than excitement, he also had ulterior motives.
“I joined because I didn’t know what I wanted to do except stay out of trouble,” McConnell said. “I really needed to get some discipline, but mainly I joined for the excitement. I was going to go active duty, but I wanted to go to college. After college, I may consider transferring into active duty, maybe as an officer. I’m only 19, so I have plenty of time to think about what I want to do.
Pfc. Brandon Schmitt joined the Marine Corps for structure. The 21-year-old 3/25 rifleman from Cincinnati is also a security systems installation technician working for his father. He is married and has a daughter who turned one just a few days after he got here.
“I waited until I graduated in 2006, went into the Delayed Entry Program and waited to go to recruit training so that I could be there for the birth of my daughter,” said Schmitt. “I basically joined to build a structure for my family, to better myself and to better my family. I didn’t join just for myself; I joined for my fiancé and to be a better role model for my daughter.”
No matter what their reasons for joining the Marine Corps, they all share a lot of common incentives. Whether it is just for the excitement and the adventure of seeing new places, or for the structure and discipline Marines are renowned for, they all got something out of becoming Marines.