Lance Cpl. Christopher L. Burkhart, a diesel mechanic with Regimental Combat Team 2, grew up working on four-wheelers and trucks, and now he works on every type of vehicle the Marine Corps has to offer.“I got my first four-wheeler when I was 5, and I have been tinkering with and fixing things ever since,â€Â he said. Burkhart said his grandfather, Milton, and his brother, Jeremy, were big influences in his life. Both of them loved working on vehicles, and Burkhart grew up learning and working with them. Burkhart and his mother, Deb, worked on a 1981 Toyota pickup truck together. It was his mother’s first truck, he said, and the oldest truck he has worked on. “My mom and I took pride in it together,â€Â he said. The newest civilian vehicle he’s worked on is his 2005 Dodge Ram. So far, he said, he has added an exhaust system, bigger tires, a new head unit and a stereo system. “It’s cool to see how far we’ve come in vehicle technology,â€Â he said. As he nears the end of his first deployment to Afghanistan, Burkhart has worked on every type of vehicle and heavy equipment in the Marine Corps inventory. His favorite: the all-terrain version of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle. “They are easy to work on, and it’s the newest thing to come out in the Marine Corps,â€Â he said. “I love learning everything there is to know about the new vehicles.â€Â The job provides plenty of satisfaction. “There is nothing better than getting a truck that doesn’t run, then being able to take it out for a road test because I fixed it,â€Â Burkhart said. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Edward V. Miuccio, who has known Burkhart since he settled in at Camp Lejeune, N.C., about a year and a half ago, said that he can tell Burkhart is motivated just by his attitude and confidence while at work. “He is energetic and enjoys his job,â€Â Miuccio, a line noncommissioned officer. “We work together to fix the trucks on the lot.â€Â Burkhart, who plans on separating when his active-duty commitment ends, said he wants to work on the sustainment team for the company that supplies the M-ATVs to the Marine Corps and sends technicians to work with Marines to resolve any issues with the vehicles in the deployed environment. “[They] are very helpful, friendly people,â€Â said Burkhart. “I’d be able to concentrate on just the M-ATV instead of the other vehicles here.â€Â On his off hours, Burkhart is easy-going and hangs out with his co-workers. Miuccio said one of his favorite memories of him and Burkhart is staying up on Christmas playing video games until 2 in the morning, just laughing and relaxing. “He is a good guy and would give the shirt off his back for any of his friends,â€Â Miuccio said. “I’d trust him with my life.â€Â Jan. 6, 2011: By Marine Corps Cpl. Megan Sindelar- Regional Command Southwest

He also dreamed of getting out from behind that desk. "I thought about it every day honestly," said Army Pfc. Bruce S. Simms, a 34-year-old rifleman. "At the bank, I would sit behind the desk and think about wanting to be [in the Army] every day for 10 years." Simms shrugged off the shackles of the investment-banking world and the generous pay that goes with it to become an infantryman assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s Company B, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, Task Force No Slack, 1st Brigade Combat Team. He now lives on a small, spartan combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province. "I'm just a common American who loves his country and wants to see great things come from our country," Simms said while resting a bruised leg in his room at Combat Outpost Fortress. He had just returned from a two-day mission in the mountains bordering Pakistan where he slipped and injured his leg. But that didn't stop him from completing the operation with his unit. "My dad taught me as a kid that you can do whatever it is you want to do," Simms said. "Whenever an obstacle presents itself, take a step back, change your direction of battle, regroup and go back and attack the target again." Simms readjusted the ice pack on his ankle and continued. "Growing up, my dad was kind of a hero to me, so I wanted to follow in his footsteps and avoid some of the mistakes that he made," he said. He laughed nervously when asked for elaboration. "That would be getting into a whole different story,” he said. “You have no idea of what you're digging up right now. The Army knows all about him." He hefted his wounded leg out of bed and motioned for his visitor to follow him outside to a bunker to explain who his father was. Simms said he actually had eight different fathers as he grew up. Their names were Wayne Simms, Kenny Tyler, Thomas Michael Lamar, Brandon Lee Bailey, David Auni, Michael Simms, Robert Simms and Paul Robert Ritter. He now knows him as one man -- David Michael Pecard. "My dad was a very dishonorable man, but a very honorable man at the same time. It's very weird," Simms said. "The guy, for lack of a better word, was a crook." Simms' father had a plethora of jobs from police officer to emergency room technician to soldier. In fact, his father enlisted in the Army at the age of 14 to fight in Vietnam. After fellow soldiers discovered his real age, Simms' father was sent back home. Within a few months, he rejoined the Army. In 1974, he married Susan Kwon and took her to America, but disappeared when their second child was 6 days old. Simms' said his father drifted back into his life occasionally throughout his childhood, but never stayed for long. He had other families to visit. "He's had like eight different wives across different countries," the soldier explained with a laugh. "David Pecard is probably one of the biggest con men in the United States," Simms said. "Actually, he went on record as probably being the biggest one, unfortunately." Not only did Pecard fraudulently join the military at 14, then again at 17 with different aliases, but joined it five more times for a total of seven different identities. Pecard described himself as the Robin Hood of con men. For example, he helped to put criminals behind bars when he worked as a fake military attache to the Maricopa County Police Department in Arizona. "In my opinion, although he did serve his country, it was a dishonorable thing to defraud his government like that," said Simms, adding that he wanted to try to bring honor to his family with his own enlistment. "I know it's a clich© that the family name doesn't mean much to some, but to me it does. Maybe I'm a little old fashioned that way," Simms said. "I didn't join the military [for] money for college. I've been to college. I joined not because I needed a better salary. I took probably about a 60 percent pay cut to serve. I joined because I wanted to serve my country honorably." But the process to serve honorably wasn't easy, he added. "When I was younger, being like dad, I made a stupid mistake," he acknowledged. "I stole some money from a job I had, and fortunately, got arrested for it." Though Simms later had his misdemeanor expunged, sealed and erased by the court, the Army Recruiting Command saw things differently. Because the amount stolen was more than $500, the Uniform Code of Military Justice viewed it as a felony. Though Simms had managed more than $100 million as an investment banker and had graduated from Newburgh Theological Seminary and College of the Bible to become a pastor, his credibility was under question, he said. "So I went back to Chicago, had the case reopened and had the case changed from guilty to not guilty," he said. "After several months, I still didn't hear an answer and wanted to know who I needed to talk to. Simms was told that the recruiting command’s commanding general had denied his request to enlist. Simms said he then submitted a packet directly to the general, who a few weeks later flew into town to meet with him and his wife over dinner. "The [general] wanted to know why I wanted to serve so badly and why I didn't give up and why I didn't quit," Simms said. "I told him, 'The same amount of effort I put into wanting to join the military is the same amount I'll put into being a good soldier.' "And that's really what I wanted to do," he continued. "Not just come in and be a soldier, but be a good soldier and contribute to our country and our war effort here in Afghanistan." The next day, Simms got a call from his recruiter to sign a contract. "I wanted to come in and serve, and it didn't matter how," Simms said. "If the Army needed someone to come in and clean toilets, then guess what, I would have come in and cleaned toilets just so I can serve our country in a time of war. And that's really the honest-to-God reason why I'm here." Simms shuffled his weight off his injured leg inside the tiny bunker and laughed again. He smiled and then stared off into the distance at a pile of sandbags. "As a kid, I'd run all the time," he finally said. "Constantly, all the time, I'd run. I was running probably a good 20 miles a week, sometimes 30 miles a week. There's no question when I came to basic training at 34 years old, I was running circles around these guys, because I kept running. I even ran the Los Angeles Marathon." Running is in his blood, he explained. "When I was a kid, [my father would] come around and we'd run," Simms said. But no matter how far or how fast his father ran, the law and the Army eventually caught up to him. In 1996, he was sent to prison. After a couple of years, he filed a motion to dismiss his case, helped in his own representation, and won. "When I say it's been an incredible journey, it's been an incredible journey," Simms said. Jan. 5, 2011: By Army Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell- 210th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

 

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But Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Clinton W. Walker, supply chief for Headquarters and Service Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, has spent the last 20 years balancing his career as an active-duty Marine with his love for music.The Texas native came from humble beginnings. His father, a mechanic, taught Walker about cars and engines. But his love for music began at the age of 12. “My cousin took out a guitar one day and said, ‘Clint, check this out,’” Walker said. “I learned what he taught me pretty quickly, and I just fell in love with it. I remember just jamming for hours and hours, playing the same thing over and over again. It just grew from there.” Inspired by artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, Motley Crue and Quiet Riot, Walker honed his skills while attending high school. But unlike many aspiring rock stars, Walker never wanted to make a music video or tour the country making millions of dollars. For him, it was and has remained about the music. “There used to be this band that came down maybe once or twice a month to my town, and they always played the latest songs on the radio,” Walker said. “If the song played for the first time that morning, they had already learned it and were playing it on the same night. They were a big inspiration to me. At 15, I realized I just wanted to be that local band. I didn’t want to go any further than that.” Despite his humble dreams, growing up in a relatively small town made it difficult for Walker to pursue his ambitions. “There just weren’t enough people my age who wanted to do the same thing I wanted to,” he said. That’s when the Marine Corps recruiters began to call. “I was always the rebellious kid,” Walker said. “I was always pushing the envelope. I wore ripped jeans, drove the fastest car, and I was ready for a new challenge in my life, so when the recruiter asked me what job I wanted, I told him I didn’t care, I just want to be a Marine. I just wanted to do something different” On Dec. 7, 1990, Walker graduated from Marine Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif. After he graduated from supply school, he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan, where he was shocked to find the local music scene suited him. “Okinawan musicians really know how to throw down with some rock ’n’ roll,” he said with a laugh. In 1992, Walker was stationed in Michigan, where his musical inspirations turned to artists such as Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, BB King, Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughan, which led to him from playing rock metal to “good old blues,” he said. Always looking for a new hobby and with a knack for building things, Walker began modifying guitars, which eventually led to building guitars. In 1996, Walker was stationed in Albany, Ga., where he was exposed to a new aspect of the Marine Corps Band. “I found out there was more to the Marine Corps Band than the traditional drum and bugle corps or ceremonial events,” Walker said. “I saw their rock and show bands perform and just started talking to one of their guitar players after the show.” The guitarist invited Walker to a blues jam at a local bar. What began as a casual jazz and blues session turned into a five-piece band of musicians calling themselves Clint Walker and the Blues Raiders, named after the band’s front man, lead guitarist and singer, a trend that followed Walker with his later bands. In 1999, Walker transferred back to Okinawa, where he decided to create another band, Clint Walker and the Groove Cats, named after the Japanese bar where they performed, The Groove. In 2002, Walker transferred to Albuquerque, N.M., where he initially had reservations about his new assignment. “I was scared there wasn’t going to be a music scene,” he said. “So I went to the music store -- which by the way, is a great place to get info about the local music scene pretty much everywhere you go -- and there turned out to be at least 20 bands with a good mix of musicians out there.” Walker began attending open mike nights and eventually fell in with the Breakers, a band that had lost its lead singer. He spent a year as the Breakers’ front man before his participation began to interfere with his family life. Like many artists, Walker became consumed with his music and had to choose between it and his family. “I wanted to be a better parent,” the 39-year old father of five said. “I wasn’t just performing. I was practicing with my band, writing songs, jamming -- something had to give. So I sold off my guitars and quit playing. … Six months later, my wife told me I was driving them crazy and to buy a guitar.” In 2006, Walker returned to Okinawa and the Groove Cats. With his love for music and performing rekindled, Walker began to experiment as the bassist for his band. Once again fully engaged in the music scene, Walker began to cover a whole new spectrum of rock and punk music, finding new inspiration from artists such as Billy Idol, AC/DC, Green Day and many more. But after returning from a short deployment, Walker said, he was disappointed to see the band’s skills had slipped in his absence and that his bandmates had more interest in partying than they did in the music. It was the beginning of the second time Walker gave up his music. “I had two really expensive hobbies,” Walker said. “On top of being a father, a husband and a musician, I was also building custom guitars and custom [motorcycles.]” Walker’s life took a rock star-like crash shortly after. His mother had recently died, his marriage needed work, and to make matters worse, his son was admitted to the emergency room for an unknown condition. “Life just happened,” the soft spoken, humble Marine said. The Walkers were transferred to Hawaii so his son could receive the medical care he needed. A short surgery later, his son was in perfect health, and the Walkers have made their new home here. But the life of a Marine, mechanic and family man couldn’t keep the musician from what he loved. “He just gets that itch, and if he doesn’t play, he’ll drive everybody crazy,” his wife said. “He’s so multi-talented. If he’s not building something, he needs to be playing. “He’ll sit there and play the same tune over and over again for hours. and then when he performs, we’re just in awe,” she continued. “He plays with such feeling that every time I go to see a live band, I’m constantly comparing them to him. And a lot of times, they just don’t play the way my husband does.” After attending a jam night at a bar in Kailua, Walker’s musical career came full circle when he met Marine Corps Master Sgt. Stephen Jeremiah, Marine Forces Pacific bandmaster. “I threw out a couple names from the band in Albany, and he invited me to come out and play the [2010] Great Aloha Run gig with them. After the show, he said ‘Well dang, Gunny, you want to go to Samoa?’ Next thing I knew, I was part of the … show band.” Walker joined the band just in the nick of time, said Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Chazz Harbison, a bassist and a member of Walker’s current band. “We were short on guitar players, and he really was a pleasant surprise,” Harbison said. “This guy is a rock star. It’s the best way to describe him. He knows how to work a crowd; he always has a smile on his face. He’s one of those guys that will text me if he’s having a bad day and be like, ‘I need to rock. Let’s jam.’” Since he began performing with the Marine Forces Pacific Band, Walker has played at least 20 gigs and traveled as a Marine musician to Samoa, Mongolia and Canada. And he received an unexpected surprise when he traveled to Cambodia. “There were giant banners with photos of me,” he said chuckling as he recalled the memory. “I couldn’t believe it.” Today, Walker is known as the Marine Forces Pacific rock star by many of the Marines in the command, and he is more involved in music than ever before. After nearly 20 years of service, he said, he’s finally found a balance between his music, family, career and his numerous other hobbies. With retirement around the corner, Walker and his family plan to move back to Albuquerque, where he said the warm, dry weather provides the perfect conditions for him to do metal work and where he can become the small-town front man he has wanted to be since he was 15. Jan. 4, 2011: By Marine Corps Cpl. Juan D. Alfonso- Marine Forces Pacific

 

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"A military installation has a high degree of stress," said Janice Ellis, one of only six landscape architects in the Air Force. "Studies have shown that landscaping reduces the amount of stress that people feel. Health and safety is a landscape architect's No. 1 priority. People think it's [planting] trees, and it's really not; it's the health and safety of people."Ellis designed and drafted the plans for an artificial turf intramural field. The project has been approved and is in the works. Because the new artificial turf field is 99.5 percent maintenance free and doesn't require water, fertilizer or mowing, the upkeep cost is drastically reduced. "Our goal is to reduce water and maintenance overall," she said. Ellis has a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture, which includes engineering classes, community planning and architecture. "A landscape architect doesn't simply pick out plants," she said. "They specialize in picking the right plant, for the right type of soil, for the right climate, for the right function." Ellis has made strides to choose flora and fauna that flourish in the dry climate here. She uses the "xeriscape" landscaping method to create a landscape design carefully tailored to withstand drought conditions. At one location, she has planted colorful succulents, installed fabric that suppresses weed growth while retaining moisture in the soil, and replaced thick, green vegetation with much smaller rock that adheres to force-protection guidelines. She has also planted blue agave -- a small, compact shrub with thorns that takes water only during winter -- at two installation entry control points. The thorny plants won't necessarily stop a terrorist, she said, but they pose more of an obstacle than soft vegetation that can be climbed or walked over. Jan. 3, 2011: By Air Force 1st Lt. Mara Title- Space and Missile Systems Center

 

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