Enlisted Marine Returns As Officer
(February 7, 2011) |
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C., Feb. 4, 2011 –
Marine Corps Capt. Joshua H. Weiland grew up in a typical
American family in Park Falls, Wis. Not much more than a
couple of intersections in the middle of a national forest,
the town gave Weiland an environment that fit his
personality. |
Marine Corps Capt. Joshua
W. Weiland, center, stands in front of an EA-6B
Prowler on Dec. 10, 2010, with Marines he served
with during his enlisted service. |
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“My best friend from childhood and I honed our
hunting and fort-building skills in the woods,”
he said.
After high school, Weiland
contemplated what he'd do for a living. He
eventually contacted a Marine Corps recruiter to
visit him at his parents' home.
“What
time is he going to be here?” asked his father,
Norm, in reference to the recruiter.
Until then, Weiland said, his family didn't have
a clue that he was considering joining the
Marines. His father was more than proud of him
for joining the military, he added, but he
wanted to ensure that he was doing it for the
right reasons.
“He told me to find a
skill that would follow me for the rest of my
life,” Weiland said.
Weiland's father,
Norm, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1965,
serving as a KY-8 radio technician and a
helicopter door gunner. Stationed at Marine
Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., multiple
locations in Vietnam, and the Marine Corps
Recruit Depot in San Diego. Weiland's father
traveled and experienced quite a bit in his four
years of service. |
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“He never really told me to join or expected me
to join. It's always what I've wanted to do,”
Weiland said. “I remember when I was 9 or 10
seeing my dad's box of medals, and I was like a
kid in a candy store. It was definitely a
determining factor.” |
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Like his father, Weiland joined the Marines. In 1996, he was
assigned to his first duty station, Marine Tactical
Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, as an EA-6B Prowler aircraft
technician, at the age of 19. He deployed three times during
his first enlistment, twice to Aviano Air Base, Italy, in
support of Operation Deliberate Guard and Operation Allied
Force and once to Japan.
As a sergeant in the Marine
Corps and with time dwindling away on his first term,
Weiland had another important decision to make. He decided
to depart the Marine Corps and began college.
“I
didn't like what I was studying and realized the Corps was a
better fit for me, but I knew if I came back in that I
probably wouldn't be a noncommissioned officer, so I had to
do something different,” he said. “So I did some research,
talked to my dad quite a bit, and decided on the platoon
leaders course in 2003.”
Commissioned as a second
lieutenant in 2006 with a degree in physical geography from
the University of Wisconsin, Weiland headed to flight
school.
“I was sitting there going through the
numbers with a few of my buddies at flight school,” Weiland
said, “and I realized there was a decent chance for me to go
to Marine Aircraft Group 14 again.”
Weiland found
himself assigned to Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare
Squadron 4 again, this time as an officer.
“I thought
it was a joke at first, but it wasn't, and it started to
sink in like I never left in the first place,” he said. “I
thought sarcastically to myself, ‘Oh I'm back at this place
again.'”
His first time with the Seahawks was as a
Prowler electrician, and the second time as an electronic
countermeasures officer.
“I spent four years of my
life maintaining the aircraft, when all I wanted to do was
see what it is like to fly in it,” he said. “Then I realized
I had to go through flight school just for that.”
Thirteen years after he first stepped into the squadron's
hangar, he returned to see several familiar, albeit older,
faces -– Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Daen J. Glover, for
example.
“Captain Weiland was always someone I looked
up to and tried to emulate when he was enlisted,” said
Glover, who has known Weiland for 12 years.
“I was
confused when he got out as a sergeant and went to college,
because he was an outstanding Marine,” Glover continued.
“But I'm glad he decided to come back, and now both our
squadron and the Marine Corps are better off with a Marine
of his caliber.”
Weiland said his life is prosperous,
as he is happily married to his wife, Neva, and he has three
children: Brandon, Aidon and Elizabeth. He also has a unit
full of old work buddies as he pursues a profession that
allows him to fly and work with young Marines.
“I
definitely have a unique perspective of what it is to be an
enlisted Marine,” Weiland said. “It has benefitted me as an
officer, and really all you need to do is think about it
like a lance corporal does, and you'll get the job done.” |
Article and photo by USMC Cpl. Samuel A. Nasso
Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2011 |
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