Leaders weigh in to set example - Marine Corps Community Relations

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okinawa marine | OPiniOn & eDitORiAL | March 11, 2011
no regrets
Prepare for transition looking ahead
Cpl. Daniel A. Flynn
Throughout their life, many people
will look back at times and regret
something. Whether it is something
they didn’t do but wish they had,
or something they wish they had done
differently, does not change the fact that
there will be regrets in life.
Many years down the road I am sure
I will look back on my life and have
regrets, but the one thing I will never
regret is becoming a Marine.
I am now nearing the end of my first
enlistment and from what I can see
there is very little chance of a second
one in my future. Hopefully, that won’t
be one of my regrets.
Over the past four
years, I have managed
to do a lot of
things friends I grew
up with will never
experience.
I had the opportunity
to spend a
majority of my first
enlistment living in
Okinawa, Japan, and
was afforded many
opportunities to
experience the way
of life in Japan which
differed quite a bit from the way of life I
was used to from growing up in the Appalachian
Mountains of North Carolina
and Tennessee.
From Okinawa I had the opportunity
to travel to the Kingdom of Thailand as
part of Exercise Cobra Gold in 2009. I
even served my country in Afghanistan
and have experienced combat first hand.
While there are many stories to tell from
that experience, the ones I prefer telling
come from getting to experience so
many different cultures over the last
four years and all the different people I
have met.
Believe it or not, one of the best experiences
I had was in Thailand. While
there, I had the opportunity to take part
in a community relations event.
This event, sponsored by the chaplains
who came to Cobra Gold, took
myself and about 20 other Marines and
sailors to an orphanage in Pattaya, Thailand
to help plant trees and take care of
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other tasks. While I remember the work
we did, the part I remember the most
was having the chance to interact with
the children who lived at this orphanage.
These children, whose ages ranged
from 5 to 14 years old, made that day
one of the coolest experiences of my life.
When we left the orphanage, the people
who ran it said we made the kids’ day by
coming, but I can say those kids made
our day every bit as much as we did
theirs.
But, as the old saying goes, when one
door closes another opens.
As I prepare to enter the ranks of all
former Marines, I realize how important
and difficult a move this will be for me.
I now must
As I prepare to enter
the ranks of all former
Marines, I realize how
important ... a move
this will be for me.
find a place
to live, find
employment,
enroll
in school
and the
many other
tasks associated
with
becoming a
civilian.
Throughout
this process,
I have
been reminded of how important it is to
follow the advice given in the Transition
Assistance Program and the Transition
Assistance Management Program.
I urge everyone who is planning on
transitioning in the future to pay close
attention to information passed in these
courses and to be as proactive as possible
and begin the many associated
administrative tasks.
As of right now I have no clue what
my life will bring after the Corps. More
than likely, I will go back to school and
complete my degree.
Even with that said, there is only one
guarantee in my life: with the strength
and the discipline the Marine Corps has
instilled in me, there is no way I will let
myself fail in anything I do. Because of
the Corps, I will always have great stories
to tell and no regrets about this part
of my life lasting only four years.
Flynn is a combat correspondent with
the Okinawa Marine.
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at Public Affairs Office, H&S BN MCB PAO, Unit 35002, FPO AP 96373-5002.
Commanding generalMaj. Gen. Peter J. Talleri
puBliC affairs direCtor Lt. Col. David M. Griesmer
press offiCer 1st Lt. John D. Norton
press Chief Gunnery Sgt. J. L. Wright Jr.
design editor Audra A. Satterlee
Around
Corps
the
Marines and sailors aboard USS Makin Island look out over
“vulture’s row” as an MV-22 Osprey, from Marine Medium
Tiltrotor Squadron 161, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine
Expeditionary Force, conducts deck landing qualifications
during Exercise Iron Fist March 1. This is the first time an
Osprey has landed aboard Makin Island. Exercise Iron Fist
is a bilateral training exercise between members of the
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Western Army Infantry
Regiment, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and several
Southern California-based Marine units to increase
military interoperability and amphibious capabilities.
Photo by Cpl. Elyssa Quesada
A Marine with Police Advisory Team, 1st Battalion,
3rd Marine Regiment, I Marine Expeditionary Force,
opens fire on targets, during a Motorized Operations
training exercise, aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground
Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. March 2.
Photo by Cpl. Andrew S. Avitt
The spinning tracks of an amphibious assault vehicle
with AAV Platoon, Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine
Regiment, III Marine Expeditionary Force, sends mud
flying as it tears up invasive pickleweed in the Nuupia
Ponds Wildlife Management Area during the 29th annual
Mud Ops exercise on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb.
23. The 29-year-long Mud Ops tradition partnered AAV
Platoon Marines with the Base Environmental Compliance
and Protection Department to prepare the 517-acre area
for the upcoming breeding season of the endangered
Hawaiian stilt bird species. Photo by Lance Cpl. Reece E. Lodder
HQMC DivPA Best Tabloid
Format Newspaper, 2010
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