"GOODBYE MARINES"

21 May 2010
Today was my last day at work. It was a little hectic, but definitely good to see and say bye to the Marines in my shop. They're all combat correspondents and television broadcasters. We make up Marine Corps News. For a send off, they treated me to lunch at a Chinese buffet in Crystal City near our building. Man, it was good and we all probably gained 15 pounds from the food. I'll sweat it off later.

During lunch, I told them all two things before I left: To take care of each other and never settle. It seems like the past year, their care was in my hands and I've really enjoyed working with and mentoring them. Now they were going to have to take care of each other. As a Marine broadcaster, I'm a big quality nut, so I wanted them to remember to never settle in their work - something could always be changed/tweaked/edited to make a story, video, photo better. Our unit just came off an incredible wining year in Department of Defense media awards, and I think that mentality of never settling helped put us over the top. I want other Marines around the Corps to look at our shop as the beacon in what we do.

We've been sending Marines from our unit to Afghanistan for the past couple years to fill these AFN (American Forces Network) TV billets. SSgt Clint Firstbrook just came home and Cpls. Bryan Lett and AJ Lugo are currently there - they're doing an awesome job, I'm so proud of them as a leader. The nice thing about having/managing these billets is that we get a little more say than the average Marine into when we want to go. This was my turn, I'm excited about the opportunity - especially now that I'll be in a leadership billet. Last time I deployed to Iraq in '03, I was low man on the totem. This time I'll have more of an opportunity to lead - I'm looking forward to it. I chose this rotation during much of the Summer and Fall so Toni and Alyssa can keep busy with all the family vacations to Ocean City, Md., and Assateague Island, Md. I hope that should help pass the time for them in my absence.