Photo By Keith Hayes | Lance Cpl. John A. Teale puts pressure on a large torque wrench used by the mechanics...... read more read more
Lance Corporal John A. Teale has been named the Marine of the Quarter for Marine Corps Logistics Command aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
He joined the Marine Corps in January 2015 from his native Cortland, Neb.
“I always wanted to be a Marine. My father was in the Marines during the Vietnam War era although he never went over,” Teale said.
He works in the Metrology Lab for Fleet Support Division measuring the strength and accuracy of tools used by the mechanics to make sure they live up to the manufacturer’s specification.
“It’s an honor to be named Marine of the Quarter for Logistics Command,” Teale said. “I told them I want to go up for the next quarter, too.”
He admits that at 26 years old he is rather old for a lance corporal.
“(The Marine Corps) has been quite the experience for me being a junior Marine at age 26,” Teale said. “I was in boot camp with 18 and 19-year-olds who knew nothing about life having gone in to the Corps right out of high school.”
His stay in the Corps has been very much as the recruiters told him it would be.
“What they said was going to be difficult, was difficult. What they said was going to be easy, for the most part, according to the military, was easy,” Teale said.
His contract with the Marines is for five years and it may take that long for him to decide if he wants a life-long commitment to the service.
“I’ve considered making a career out of the Marines. My wife and I decided I’d do my first tour then decide after that. So far it’s been pretty good,” Teale explained.
The competition for Marine of the Quarter was between the FSD units assigned to the two logistics bases, Barstow and Albany, which are part of Logistics Command.
“I consider this competition to be more difficult because even though are fewer Marines in the two commands assigned to LogCom than there are at MCLB Barstow, the number of junior Marines who are eligible is much smaller,” Teale said.
He has some pragmatic advice to other junior Marines who want to be considered for Marine of the Quarter, especially in a larger command such as LogCom.
“You have to do things to set yourself apart from everyone else, whether you think it’s being noticed or not,” he said. “There were things that my platoon sergeant put in my application package that made me think ‘Wow! I didn’t think anybody saw that.’”
“Keep pushing because if you start giving up or slacking off on bettering yourself and stop trying to be a better Marine, that will get noticed, too,” Teale concluded. “So they may notice the good stuff but they definitely will notice the bad stuff.”
| Date Taken: | 05.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.19.2016 13:47 |
| Story ID: | 198566 |
| Location: | BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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