Marcus Jones Interview, History 150 Spring 2017, Conducted by Jack Hamner , March 10th, 2017

 

A. This interview was conducted in person using a hand held recording device. The interview had to be edited a little bit to compensate for background noise. The Interview process was very easy I contacted Marcus because I knew he served in the Marines. He gladly accepted my offer for the interview and met with me to get some of his background information and begin the interview. We conducted the interview in a quiet conference room located in Memorial Hall.

B. Marcus Jones is my neighbor and served in the marines for many years. He was born in Lynchburg Virginia and graduated from Rustburg High School in 2012. Marcus chose to join the marines right after graduating high school and put his college eduction on hold. Marcus has three younger sisters and enrolled in James Madison University in the fall of 2017.

C.  The marines were first created in the Revolutionary War in 1776. They were a versatile fighting force on land and sea. Throughout the war they carried out many important tasks for the Americans fighting for their independence. The motto for the marines is Semper Fidelis meaning “always faithful” in latin. After the devastating events that took place on 9/11 the marine corps saw a big increase in people answering the call and signing up to fight for this great country. After interviewing Marcus it was clear the horrible events that took place had a influence on him and other marines enlisting to fight terrorism around the globe.

source: Birth of the U.S. Marine Corps.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

Transcription: Jack Hamner (JH): What branch of the military were you in, and what made you chose the branch over others?

Marcus Jones (MJ): Alright um, i was in the United States Marine Corps and i feel like i chose that branch because the recruiter sold it pretty well. I also had a older cousin who was a marine before me so he was pretty influential.

JH: What was your bootcamp like?

MJ: Bootcamp was pretty hard. It was 13 weeks every morning waking up at 3:30 am and going to bed at 8:00 pm. The sun was still out when you were getting into bed, but um other than that it was in a way almost like summer camp. Yeah there was shooting and screaming all the time, but you always got used to the routine. There was 3-4 course meals that you ate in 30 seconds, but you got used to it. The guys you were living with were going through the same suck as you did, so you got used to the high stress environment with all the screaming and running going on. In a weird way towards the end you started liking it, and so it was a weird way how it worked out.

JH: What was your MOS in the marines?

MJ: um, i was a 6531 aviation ordinance technician, which is basically working on F-18 deltas and i put bombs on planes or i worked on army missile systems that dropped the bombs. I also put ammunition for the guns and dropped the guns and cleaned the guns. Towards the end i was a collateral duty inspector, so i was responsible for our maintenance actions that went on and actually had to sign my name to what was going on with 30 million dollar jets so it got pretty stressful at times, especially when you’re working with all the new guys. We had schedules to meet so the jets could actually fly, cos we were actually putting the bombs on the planes. Pilots would get mad sometimes if you didn’t have the right bombs on their or if something is not working. It put a whole lot more pressure on this.

JH: What was your training like for your MOS when compared to bootcamp?

MJ: um, the environment is more relaxed they are not screaming at you the whole time, but then again they are crafting your mind in a way to make you think your job almost the whole time.Its not like they were making you march or making you exercise or anything. At that point you’re already a marine so they treated you like an adult. It was a set schedule so you would wake up go to class for a couple hours have lunch then finish out with a few more hours of class. They might make you workout like a nice 2 mile run or whatever to make sure everyone is keeping up in shape. After that you were free to do whatever on your own time as long as you weren’t out there breaking rules. We had curfew still um, a student curfew. You would have set uniform inspections. It was almost like you had full freedom, then again you were still in that military setting

JH: Where did you deploy and how was the atmosphere?

MJ: okay so i deployed twice um, my first time i believe was 2013 i went to Japan which was my starting point. So i went to Japan and then from japan…its pretty much you pack all your stuff had two bags full of gear and thats all you had for 6 months. So we would go from Japan and from there we would go a month to the philippines or a week to Hawaii. My second deployment i went from Japan to korea then Guam then back to Japan. You are all over the place for a span of 8 months. The first time being deployed it was fun because it was new to me so i was always up for whatever, and if someone said we were going to do something ridiculous i would be like okay sure. The second time i was kind of like i have been here done that. I didn’t go out as much. I didn’t do to many tourist things, um we got to go to Guam but you still had curfews so its not like you had the full freedom to go out and do whatever you want. When you were at work the hours were pretty stressful. We were working 13-14 hour shifts. I would come in at 5 pm and leave at 5 am or 7 am just depends how they wanted the shifts to run. Other than that just work and sleep. You would go to work for 13-14 hours then sleep for a few hours. Wake up get food try and squeeze the gym in then work

JH: do you view your time in the military as beneficial on your life to this point?

MJ: yeah definitely can’t complain. It was a good experience definitely not that way i pictured it working out. I never saw the military as a option for me so that was a bit of a curveball. The goods definitely out way the bad. The only bad experience you felt like you wasted time. So many times you find yourself just sitting around waiting or not doing anything. You ask yourself man my friends are out there getting ahead in life and I’m just sitting here doing the same thing working and putting bombs on planes, which wouldn’t help you get a normal job afterwards.The experience is worth it because it builds character and i made friends. I have friends all over the United States and all over the world. I definitely cannot complain.

JH: Um, what brought you to JMU after getting out of the marines.

MJ: I can to JMU cos college was actually my first plan. I had a good GPA in high school and thought that was the way i was always going. Thought i had my mind set I’m not going into the military. As ironic as it is i was one of the few people i know that actually did it. I wanted to go to JMU because i had friends that came here. I thought maybe one day then went into the military. At that point i had the G.I bill behind me. At first i couldn’t really afford college anyways so that helped me out so much. Afterwards my friends were still here so i hit them up to see if it was still worth it. They said yeah come. I had the opportunity so i didn’t pass it up. Now I’m here.