Former DI reunites with legacy recruits during Afghanistan deployment

Photo By Staff Sgt. Justin Shemanski | Although these Marines now work side by side as members of Combat Logistics Battalion...... read more read more

Photo By Staff Sgt. Justin Shemanski | Although these Marines now work side by side as members of Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), that wasn’t always the case. While serving as a drill instructor from 2001 to 2004, Gunnery Sgt. Arras Hattman (left), the company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Support Company, CLB-6, 1st MLG (FWD), indoctrinated former recruits Staff Sgt. Scott Hemenway and Sgts. Jeffery Aaron and Jeremiah Rees into the Corps. From 2006 to 2009, Hemenway served on the drill field himself and now works alongside his former recruit, Cpl. Erminio Pizza (far right). (Photo Illustration)  see less | View Image Page

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

07.10.2010

Story by Sgt. Justin Shemanski 

1st Marine Logistics Group

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During the summer of 2002, Hattman and his team of dedicated drill instructors began to mold Hemenway into the Marine he is today and in the training cycles that followed, the legacy continued with Sgts. Jeremiah Rees and Jeffery Aaron.

Currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of International Security Assistance Force operations, the Marines now call each other “brother” as members of Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward). Their interactions with one another began, however, under much more chaotic circumstances.

From 2001 to 2004, Hattman, the company gunnery sergeant for Headquarters and Support Company, CLB-6, 1st MLG (FWD), indoctrinated hundreds of civilians into the Corps as a drill instructor with Kilo Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. In that capacity, he was one of the first Marines to “welcome” Hemingway, Rees and Aaron to the family as new recruits and provided them with many of the basic tools needed to build successful careers; something they all attested to.

“He impacted my Marine Corps career in an extremely positive way,” said Hemenway, a native of Rahway, N.J., of Hattman. “I idolized him as a leader and now that we are out here together, I respect him as a man too, not just a Marine. He is an awesome teacher.”

Aaron actually reunited with Hattman just before attaching to CLB-6, as they both came from Combat Logistics Company 23 aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.

“I was kind of in shock the first time I say him,” said Aaron, quality control chief with Alpha Company, CLB-6, 1st MLG (FWD). “He walked into the company office and I asked if he remembered me, which he did, and we caught up a little bit. It was pretty cool.”

As Marines often say, it’s a small Corps and as such, the family reunion doesn’t stop at Hattman’s initial three. He also has a “grand recruit” in theater in the form of Cpl. Erminio Pizza.

Hemenway, who now serves as a mentor to Afghan National Army soldiers, became a drill instructor himself and served on the drill field from 2006 to 2009. Pizza, one of Hemenway’s 2007 Echo Co., 2nd Recruit Training Battalion graduates, now works alongside him as a maintenance and motor transportation mentor.

“It really is a privilege and an honor to work with him as a Marine,” said Pizza, a native of Philadelphia. “He’s an awesome staff non-commissioned offer in charge and the values he taught us in recruit training have really applied to everything I do as a Marine.”

Hemenway also noted how remarkable it was to all be united in a combat zone working together toward the same goal. It’s great to have the opportunity to serve with everyone, he said.

“It’s good to see the non-commissioned officer my own recruit he turned out to be,” said Hemingway.

After nearly two decades of service, Hattman is currently creeping toward retirement, but seeing the small part of the Corps he personally had a hand in creating; seeing the successful staff and non-commissioned officers they have become in their own rights, leaves him feeling proud.

He beamed as he reminisced of his years as a drill instructor and even more so when the other Marines are mentioned.

“It’s good to see them out doing their thing,” said Hattman, a native of Coraopolis, Pa. “Out of my 18 years in the Marine Corps, my time as a drill instructor was the most gratifying. More so than anywhere else, I made a direct impact on countless individuals and to see the results of the countless hours and efforts put in by my team and I is extremely rewarding.

“I’m on my way out; less than two years to go, and to see all of them taking care of business and knowing they will continue to do so is an awesome feeling.”