Photo By Sgt. Marco Mancha | Meridian, Miss., native Cpl. Justin Stewart thought it was time for him to see and...... read more read more
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COMBAT OUTPOST CASTLE, Afghanistan - His childhood was spent moving all over the Unites States. Time and again the boy had to learn to start over in a new city with his mother. Fortunately the Meridian, Miss., native didn’t let the constant relocating deter him from his love of flying kicks and fast strikes.
Professional martial artist Cpl. Justin Stewart took a break from the fighting world of Taekwondo to serve his country as a U.S. Marine.
Stewart was born in Augusta, Ga., but was forced to move just two years later because of his mother’s occupation as a traveling nurse. Stewart’s mom was required to move wherever her specialties were needed.
It was in Jackson, Miss., just 90 miles west of Meridian, where five-year-old Justin would attend his very first martial arts class. All it took for his mother to sign him up was a little begging from her little boy and Stewart’s desire to follow in his older brother’s footsteps.
“Growing up I had an older brother who I always looked up to, and I was only five when he started out,” explained Stewart. “I begged my mother to put me into it. So she did, knowing I was trying to follow in big brother’s footsteps.”
His older brother stopped attending classes after a while, but Stewart stuck with it and later found Taekwondo would become a big part of his life. His skills improved quickly, he practiced for hours a day, and fell in love with it.
At age 13 he moved with his family about two hours east of Jackson to Meridian. There he found the International Taekwondo Alliance, a group of Taekwondo schools determined to empower member instructors and students to enrich their personal, artistic and professional lives through traditional Taekwondo training.
He began training with the ITA and took his calling to the next level by becoming a certified martial arts instructor. Stewart and his mother continued to move throughout the country, but his martial arts studies remained consistent.
“It was an escape for me, it kept me busy, and I made a lot of friends anywhere I traveled,” said Stewart.
By age 16, Stewart was a second-degree black belt and even studied Taekwondo abroad in South Korea, where the art form was born and established. Stewart balanced martial arts and school upon returning from the foreign country, became a third-degree black belt, and spent a year teaching Taekwondo full-time in California after graduating high school in 2006.
Thirteen years of sticking to what he loved, Stewart thought it was time for him to see and travel the world. A trip to the recruiter’s office and some influence from his older brother, who was in the Marine Corps at the time, aided his decision to earn the title Marine.
“He was really excited when I told him I was going to take that next step and become a Marine,” explained Stewart about his brother’s reaction. “I’m glad I did it because I actually got to see the world just as I had hoped.”
Stewart did in fact get to see the world on his first deployment with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. He deployed as a professional instructor gunman, better known to Marines as a PIG, with the Scout Sniper Platoon attached to Battalion Landing Team 1/1.
Now 23, Stewart is on his second deployment and is serving in a special billet as an infantry non-commissioned officer for the Civil Affairs Team currently attached to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.
He is tasked with being the specialist in leading, planning and organizing patrols for the CAT when they conduct business throughout the unit’s area of operation.
“His role is to provide the team a subject matter expert on all things related to infantry, and this is invaluable due to our constant dismounted patrolling operations,” said 2nd Lt. Andrew McGann, a Longmont, Colo., native and assistant team leader with the CAT. “He is always the first to volunteer for a patrol and convoy operations. Corporal Stewart has displayed unwavering motivation through our deployment.”
Stewart said he hopes to continue his career in Taekwondo in the future, but is taking it one step at a time and focusing his attention on school and his Marine Corps profession.
Editor’s Note: 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion is currently assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 in 2nd Marine Division (Forward), which heads Task Force Leatherneck. The task force serves as the ground combat element of Regional Command (Southwest) and works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces, and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.
| Date Taken: | 12.29.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2011 07:17 |
| Story ID: | 81850 |
| Location: | COMBAT OUTPOST CASTLE, AF |
| Web Views: | 338 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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