Patriotic Article
Military
By Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego | |
New Marine Decides Business First In The Corps
(November 6, 2010) |
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Pvt. Eric Austin unloads his platoon's five-gallon water jugs after completing the Crucible at Weapons and Field Training Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., Oct. 28,
2010. The Crucible is a 54-hour training exercise in which recruits get little food and sleep. U.S. Marine Photo by Pfc. Mike Ito |
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MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. --
It was fall of 2009 when Pvt. Eric Austin was
stressing about a college scholarship essay he
was writing. Austin was charged with writing an
essay about he what he thought makes a member of
the armed services a hero, for a scholarship
worth $3,000. He thought back to each time his
grandfather, a former helicopter pilot for the
Air Force, had sat with him in their living
room, telling great tales of Marines fighting in
Vietnam. He explained how they fought through
more than anyone else, and how they never gave
up.
Austin graduates from recruit training today
with his fellow Marines. He has spent the last
three months enduring everything boot camp has
to offer to make his dream become a reality.
Austin came from a more fortunate family in St.
Cloud, Minn., had several scholarships and
grants, and invitations to attend both the
Minnesota School of Business and Rasmussen
College.
“I've always been good at math, and my mom is a
very successful businesswoman. So it seemed very
natural,” said Austin.
He liked the idea of business, but it seemed
that Austin wasn't fulfilled from studying. He
needed something more.
“Pvt. Austin's main goal was to make his mother
happy and ultimately proud,” says Gunnery Sgt.
Juarice Collins, senior drill instructor,
platoon 2161, Company H. “But Austin felt a
deeper desire that he wasn't getting from
school.”
So Austin started to explore options other than
college. His family has a military history, with
a grandfather who retired from the Air Force,
and a great grandfather who was in the Army. But
Austin had already decided, asking himself, “if
I'm going to join anyway, |
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why not with the best?” |
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His parents, after expressing some concern over their son
enlisting in the service, were immediately proud of his
decision when he told them he chose the Marines.
“Austin joined the Marine Corps because he felt he wanted to
be a part of the best fighting force in the world,” said
Collins.
However, his journey was far from over. He entered the
delayed entry program in December of 2009 more than 40
pounds over the regulation weight. The DEP is a program to
prepare recruits both mentally and physically for the
demands of recruit training. But his determination to wear
the eagle, globe, and anchor emblem won out. Between
December and August, Austin worked hard to lose 50 pounds in
time to sign his contract.
He also looked for motivation outside of himself, and found
two friends with the same goals and ambitions. Pfc. Michael
Baumann and Pvt. Alan Baumann, twin brothers from St. Cloud,
were looking to graduate right alongside Austin. They shared
with Austin a love for the Marine Corps, and for
entrepreneurship.
After their tenure in the Corps, the three plan to start a
video game development firm together.
“[Michael and Alan] love video games, and I love business,”
said Austin. “It just makes sense”
Michael Baumann explains how Austin can add to the success
of their venture, “He's not afraid to try something. It just
seems like he always has the right answer,” said Michael
Baumann.
Although in the Corps, Austin still has a desire to study
business. He plans to use the educational benefits provided
by the Corps to pursue a bachelor's and master's degree in
business management.
Noting that ‘Once a Marine, always a Marine,' Austin looks
forward to using everything he has learned while in recruit
training. “I want to run a good business. When you think of
business these days, everyone thinks of lying, cheating,
stealing CEO's who do whatever they can to get more money. I
don't want that. The Marines have already given me
everything I need to run an honest business,” said Austin.
Even though he had so much going for him, with several
scholarships worth thousands of dollars, and invitations to
many prominent schools, Austin saw through it all. He knew
that, although it would mean sacrificing almost everything
he had worked for, being a United States Marine was worth
giving it all up.
“Looking back, that scholarship essay that I stressed so
much over, would have been way easier after seeing the
heroism displayed every day in the Marine Corps,” said
Austin. |
Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego
Copyright 2010 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
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