Photo By Cpl. Ali Azimi | Andrew Kennedy, left, and Victor Isarraraz, right, recently achieved the rank of Eagle...... read more read more
Subscribe
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Andrew Kennedy and Victor Isarraraz started in the Boy Scouts when they were 11 years old and now, approximately seven years later, they reached the rank of Eagle Scout. The two newly promoted Eagle Scouts plan to continue their tradition of climbing through the ranks as they join the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
Kennedy and Isarraraz have been friends since before they joined the scouts, in fact, it was Kennedy that recruited Isarraraz into the organization. Together, through their experiences in the scouts, they decided to serve their country further by joining the armed services.
“I found that I did well in a structured organization,” Isarraraz said. “The scouts are basically what made me want to get into the military.”
Isarraraz, 18, will be continuing on to enlist as a sailor in the Navy. He believes the similarities between scouts and the military lie in their morals.
The scout’s laws state they must be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Many of these correspond with the ideals that sailors and Marines represent - such as honor, courage and commitment.
Isarraraz and Kennedy’s achievement as Eagle Scouts is proof of their dedication to upholding these moral standards.
“The boy scouts teach you all these things. You are different from most other Americans,” Kennedy said. “In the military it’s the same thing. You’re an elite few. Not everybody gets a chance to be an Eagle Scout. Those disciplines that they teach are going to help me do what I need to do.”
Kennedy, 17, has already accepted a scholarship through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps and, after-which, he plans to continue in his father’s footsteps, Col. Andrew Kennedy, commanding officer, Tactical Training Exercise Control Group, as an infantry officer in the Marine Corps.
His time in the scouts has taught him leadership skills, which he hopes to use during his career in the Corps.
“I started out as a following position. I did the best job I could as a subordinate,” Kennedy said. “When it came time for me to be a leader I did the best job that I could.”
“To be honest, he was probably the best senior patrol leader we’ve ever had,” Isarraraz responded to Kennedy’s statement.
Although the two will be entering into different branches of the service and as different ranks, both plan to continue the friendship they have built throughout the past seven and a half years.
“Andrew has been my best friend for the longest time,” Isarraraz said. “Ever since we’ve met, I’ve had a connection with this guy. I can’t find myself saying goodbye to him.”
“That’s the funny thing about the military, it’s a small world,” Kennedy said. “There’s no doubt we will meet up somewhere. It’s never goodbye, its farewell ‘till next time.”
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.29.2013 15:39 |
| Story ID: | 106036 |
| Location: | TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 128 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Eagle Scouts; A road to military service, by Cpl Ali Azimi, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
