Meet Your Military
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PHOTO: Marine Corps Cpl. Jonathan Hollis, an anti-tank missileman with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, earned a combat meritorious promotion to corporal, June 2, 2014, during his deployment to Afghanistan’s Helmand province. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joseph Scanlan CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan– Many young adults in the United States pursue college directly after graduating high school. While some continue to pursue a degree, others decide along the way to pursue a different path. Marine Corps Cpl. Jonathan Hollis attended college immediately after high school, but after a few short years of enduring the monotonous routine, he said, he was fed up and sought an adventure. He’s now deployed here as an antitank missileman with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. Hollis and his eight siblings were raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was home-schooled until he was a teenager, and then he attended Caledonia High School. “Because I was home-schooled, it was pretty strict at home, so when I got to public school, I never missed a homework assignment,” he said. His high school grades earned him an engineering scholarship, and when he graduated, he went on to Grand Rapids Community College. He continued to earn good grades and made the dean’s list during his first year, he said, but he wasn’t content.
“I hated college,” Hollis said. “I didn’t like sitting in a room for hours upon hours every day, just repeating the same schedule. I would show up in the morning, do my classes and leave at night while having a job on the side. It was just the same thing every day, and I was sick of it.” While Hollis was a student, two of his brothers who were infantrymen in the Marine Corps told him about their experiences, and that’s when he decided to become a Marine himself. He enlisted as an infantryman and departed for recruit training Dec. 10, 2012.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Student Follows Brothers Into Marine Corps
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PHOTO: Air Force Senior Airman Zachary Phillips, center, is promoted to his present rank June 7, 2014, at a ceremony on the Portland Air National Guard Base, Ore. His brother, Air Force Senior Airman Lewis Phillips, left, and their father, Air Force Senior Master Sgt. John Phillips participated in the ceremony. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Boyd PORTLAND AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ore. – He speaks quickly, with a certain believability and earnestness about him, and he sports a fresh, short haircut not two days old.Perhaps that’s because he’s trying to set an example. As a first sergeant in the Oregon Air National Guard, Air Force Senior Master Sgt. John Phillips reports directly to the 142nd Fighter Wing commander on matters of enlisted morale, welfare, and conduct. As a father, he reports to two sons, Lewis and Zach, both of whom dreamed of joining the military ever since they toured the Portland Air National Guard base as small children, coming to see their dad’s unique office. “They’d come out here to the base for family day [or] Christmas parties. It was always an exciting place for them to visit,” he said. Phillips' sons said they remember the awe and excitement they felt seeing and hearing the jets take off as they traveled from rural Roseburg, Oregon, to visit their dad at his unique workplace. "My first memory was my dad introducing us to his co-workers in maintenance.
We got to try on night-vision goggles and flight suits, and he took us around to see the different shops on base,” said Air Force Senior Airman Lewis Phillips, the elder of the brothers who followed their father into the Oregon Air National Guard and the 142nd Fighter Wing. They now work just a few steps away from one another. Lewis Phillips said he was inspired by his father and decided to join the military during his junior year of high school, but he wanted to follow a career path that would prove beneficial both in and out of uniform. After selecting the medical field as a career specialty, he now works as a search and extraction medic for the 142nd Medical Group Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high-yield Explosives Enhanced Response Force Package.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Oregon Brothers Serve With Father
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PHOTO: Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher Eves was formerly an officer in the Australian army. Eves served for six years before coming to the United States to join the Marine Corps and is now serving in his native land with Marine Rotational Force Darwin. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James Gulliver ROBERTSON BARRACKS, Australia – Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher Eves, born in Queensland, Australia, is back in his native land, serving as a section leader with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force Darwin. Eves was raised just outside of Brisbane, Australia, though as the son of an Australian soldier, he said, he constantly was moving from place to place. “I could never really call one place home,” he said. “We were always moving around, but the army lifestyle appealed to me.” In 2004, Eves signed up to be an officer in the Australian army. “A lot of my family had been in the army,” he said. “There was a lot of action going on at the time, so I wanted to get out and see the world.” Eves worked with multiple U.S. military services, he said, but he first encountered U.S. Marines while participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom. “They just had a similar attitude to the Australian soldiers,” he said. “They always got more done with less support. That’s what I loved about them.” The Marines trained harder than everyone, they worked harder and they were the most professional, Eves added.
After six years in the Australian army, Eves said, he decided it was time to make his dream of being a Marine a reality. He and his wife moved to Virginia, where he enlisted into the Marine Corps. His leadership experience made the trials of boot camp much easier than they might have been for others, he said. “He’s just one of those guys who is a born a leader,” said Marine Corps Cpl. Cameron Flavel, a squad leader with Weapons Company. “I remember one time in boot camp they had him teaching a land navigation class, because he knew more than the instructors.” Eves said he was used to the trials of a military lifestyle, making the adjustment that most new Marines have to go through much easier. “Everything just came natural to me,” he added. “I already had a lot of experience, so I loved sharing it and helping out the other Marines.” During his initial deployment to Okinawa, Eves was able to teach his Marines everything from jungle warfare to patrolling. “I was only a lance corporal at the time, teaching classes that a staff sergeant should be teaching, just because of my prior experience,” he said.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Former Australian Soldier Returns as U.S. Marine
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PHOTO: Air Force Staff Sgt. Linette Nosim teaches English to Afghan students at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, May 21, 2014. Nosim volunteers at the Korean Vocational Training Center to help the students improve their language skills. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Evelyn Chavez BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Seventeen years ago, a Kenyan girl and her family embarked on a 7,000-mile journey to America, where they hoped for a better life, a better future and the opportunity to succeed. She did not speak English and had no idea what to expect from the country she later would call home. Despite the struggle to overcome the cultural and language barriers, the little girl persevered. Now deployed here, Air Force Staff Sgt. Linette Nosim helps others learn the language that once challenged her. "Everything was new to me. I grew up in a town with no running water," said Nosim, the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron’s traffic management office receiving supervisor. "I cried myself to sleep sometimes, because it was a lot to take in, but even at a young age I knew I had to learn in order to succeed." Nosim moved to America at the age of 9, and she quickly learned how to speak English by reading, participating in summer school and watching television to help her hide her accent so other children wouldn't make fun of her. "The teachers were not patient with me," she said.
"I didn't want to hold the class up, so I stopped asking questions. I wanted to learn as much as I could. I knew I had to overcome the challenge somehow." Within a year, Nosim said, she adjusted and made progress at school. She moved through the education system, made new friends, and excelled in middle school and high school. After graduation, she joined the Air Force, and she experienced different countries and their cultures during deployments. Always an active volunteer, she said, she never had the opportunity to teach English until now. The Korean Vocational Training Center here allows her a chance to dedicate her time to the Afghan community. Afghan students learn the basics of the English language because of Nosim and other volunteers. She is one of about 40 volunteers who dedicate three hours once a week to help Afghan students become proficient in the language and to learn electrician, construction and welding trade skills.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Airman Teaches English to Afghans
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PHOTO: Marine Corps Cpl. Marque L. Avery at the unit's command post at Camp Lejeune, N.C., June 5, 2014. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua W. Brown CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Marine Corps Cpl. Marque Avery recalls making the choice to join the military when he was in second grade. The Cleveland native said he contemplated joining the Army while he was in high school but opted to join the Marine Corps instead when he learned the Marine recruiter could make his dream come true sooner. “The Marine recruiter got me to boot camp faster and even arranged for me to leave for boot camp a month earlier than he originally planned,” the supply clerk assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit said. For military prospects and those in the Delayed Entry Program, the opportunity to get to boot camp sooner can be beneficial.
The sooner they get through boot camp or basic training, the quicker they can get into the operating forces and begin their lives as service members. Avery said leaving sooner was more beneficial to his long-term plans, and that he was happy with the opportunity to be a Marine, because his father was one. “My dad was in the infantry and served for eight years,” he said. “My mom was supportive of my decision to join, because she knew how it was for my dad.” With the support of his mom, two older sisters, his younger brother and his grandparents, Avery enlisted and became a supply clerk. He deployed with the 26th MEU in 2013 as part of the unit’s rotational deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. Avery is in his last month of active duty service and will transfer into inactive reserve status June 30. “When I’m out, I’m planning on going to Cleveland State and getting my degree in mechanical engineering,” he said. “I’ve always liked taking things apart and learning how they work, so that’s what I want to do.” The occupational skills Avery learned in the Marine Corps do not transfer directly to mechanical engineering, Avery acknowledged, but he said he learned other character and personal traits that will help him succeed. “Respect is the most important thing I’ve learned,” he said. “It isn’t about age or where you’re from.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Marine Hopes for Future in Engineering