Gunnery Sergeant Shares Career Secrets
(June 30, 2009) |
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Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Jason Eckman provides security for Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Juan G. Ayala during a visit to an Iraqi police security station in Habbaniyah, Iraq, May 23, 2009. Eckman received a combat meritorious promotion to gunnery sergeant during a ceremony at Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq, three weeks earlier. |
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CAMP AL TAQADDUM, Iraq, June 25, 2009 –
When Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jason Eckman was promoted to
gunnery sergeant on May 2, he became one of the few Marines
to know the rare honor of being meritoriously promoted for
combat service.
A meritorious promotion in the Marine Corps is an irregular
promotion that allows particular Marines who stand out above
their peers to compete before a board of more senior Marines
for a small number of predetermined slots to their next
rank.
The promotions are harder to achieve the higher a Marine
advances in rank. For this particular board, only two
promotion available slots were available for all of the
Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. Eckman competed against
nine other staff sergeants to earn his promotion.
Eckman describes his whole life as a pathway leading to
self-improvement, with experiences that have given him the
tools and drive to achieve his goals along the way.
“Everything in your career is a stepping stone to improve
yourself,” he explained. “I try to stay as well-rounded of a
Marine as possible.”
Eckman was born in a college town in Pennsylvania with a
population of about 70,000 people. After finishing high
school, he joined the Marine Corps with hopes that it would
give him a jump start to later pursue a career in law
enforcement with the Pennsylvania State Police. |
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He said shipping off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris
Island, S.C., was one of the first stepping stones toward
his current success. His recruit training, he said, gave him
a huge starting point that he used to establish a solid
foundation.
“It starts at recruit training,” he said. “To continue on,
you've got to have some good mentors [and] take the things
you like and discard the things you don't like to make you a
well-rounded Marine.”
His formula to success was simple from the beginning. He
chose to learn and live by the Marine Corps' 14 leadership
traits: judgment, justice, decisiveness, integrity,
discipline, tact, initiative, endurance, bearing,
unselfishness, knowledge, loyalty, enthusiasm and
confidence.
“It's bred into you as a Marine,” he said.
Upon completion of recruit training and subsequently
training in his assigned military occupational specialty as
a military policeman, Eckman embarked on a series of
assignments and deployments that he said helped him on his
quest to become a diverse Marine and “experience all the
things the Marine Corps has to offer.” During his first
enlistment in the Marine Corps, Eckman decided to commit to
the Corps and make it his career.
“Once I got in the Marine Corps, I enjoyed being in and
being part of it,” he said. “That's why I never got out.”
He went on a deployment as part of a personal security
detail for U.S. Support Group Haiti in 1999 and caught a
glimpse of his future of his current assignment as staff
noncommissioned officer in charge for the 2nd Marine
Logistics Group commanding general's personal security
detail. He also completed a West Pacific tour with the 11th
Marine Expeditionary Unit, visiting multiple countries in
Southwest Asia, and served two separate tours in Iraq.
During this time, Eckman also was presented with an
opportunity that he credits as one of the largest of the
stepping stones, one that was key in teaching him small unit
leadership skills: drill instructor duty at a place he knew
all too well, Parris Island.
“Being a drill instructor was a huge stepping stone for me,”
he said. “The small-unit leadership you learn down there
really helped me out.” The challenge of forging a group of
recruits with different backgrounds and personalities into a
team of Marines, he added, taught him many of the skills he
uses today.
Soon after finishing his tour as a drill instructor, Eckman
moved to Camp Lejeune, N.C., and found himself in his
current billet, one he called a great opportunity that
played a decisive part in earning a combat meritorious
promotion. Soon, he was here on his third deployment to
Iraq.
He said being in the personal security detail is one of his
favorite jobs and that the small-unit camaraderie makes it a
rewarding atmosphere.
“You're working in that small unit, and it's a lot tighter,”
he said. “The incredible bond we have is one thing I
especially enjoy.”
Eckman also credits his unit's Marines as an important
factor in his success, calling them some of the best in the
Marine Corps.
“They talk about the top 10 percent of the Marine Corps. ...
Well, I have the top 2 percent under me,” he said. “They
don't need guidance, and their professionalism is
outstanding.”
The 14-man team is made up mainly of infantrymen, along with
a few military policemen and a Navy corpsman. All of the
team members have more than one combat tour under their
belt, giving Eckman an experienced, capable team to lead, he
said.
After only four months of leading the team throughout Iraq
with Brig. Gen. Juan G. Ayala, the 2nd Marine Logistics
Group commander, Eckman received the combat meritorious
promotion to gunnery sergeant, an event he considers one of
his greatest moments.
“Obviously, I was excited about it,” he said. “It was a true
honor.” Gunnery sergeant is one of the best ranks in the
Marine Corps, he added.
“I set a goal when I came into the Marine Corps that I would
be a gunnery sergeant,” he said. “To achieve it in this way
is one of the greatest achievements in my life.”
Eckman was promoted by Ayala and Sgt. Maj. Carl Green, the
former group sergeant major, in front of more than 100 other
staff NCOs and officers.
Ayala's aide-de-camp, 1st Lt. Dan Meyers, is the personal
security detail's officer in charge. He said he nominated
Eckman because he was a natural choice for a combat
meritorious promotion.
“His natural leadership and initiative was far beyond that
of a staff sergeant,” he said. “When it came time to put a
name forward for a meritorious board, it was a no-brainer
for me.
“It's really easy to write a package on a Marine who has so
many accomplishments,” he added, “so I was honored to put
the package together.” Meyers said that Eckman is the kind
of staff NCO that every young officer needs, and that he's a
great leader of Marines.
“I've got nothing but confidence in him,” he explained. “He
makes my job a whole lot easier because he's so incredibly
competent. ... The Marines on his team respond well to his
leadership. Their flawless execution thus far is a real
testament to his ability to train them.”
Eckman said that none of his accomplishments would have been
possible without his wife, Jessica.
“I know that she's taking care of things back home,” he
said. “She misses her husband around, ... but she's able to
manage and has done it now on numerous occasions.”
Eckman said he still has many aspirations in the Marine
Corps, including going back to Parris Island.
“I would love to go back down and be a company first
sergeant, and would definitely love to be a battalion
sergeant major,” he said. But he added that his future in
the Marine Corps depends on his wife and his 2-year old
daughter, Lillian.
“Most likely, I am going to hit my 20-year mark and move on
with life and be a family man,” he said. “When I see [the
military life] start to take a toll on the family, I am
going to be a dad and husband.” | |
Article
by Marine Corps Cpl. Bobbie Curtis
Photo by Sgt. Richard McCumber III
2nd Marine Logistics Group
Special to
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
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