Photo By Sgt. Whitney N. Frasier | Cpl. Michael L. Erskine, 39, from Youngstown, N.Y., enlisted in the Marine Corps in...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Most of today's corporals here may not remember when the buildings on base were white, when the 14 Area gym was a busy chow hall, or when the bus stop on Vandergrift Road was a horse-shoe-shaped, stand-in phone booth center.
Maybe they don't remember because it was 1992, but one 39-year-old corporal does.
Cpl. Michael L. Erskine grew up working on a farm. He knew how to drive a tractor before he learned to drive a car. The day he stepped foot in a recruiter's office, he knew what his job would be just by looking at a picture.
With less than a year in the fleet during a deployment in Somalia, he was assigned to a three-day operation transporting a piece of heavy equipment to the Ethiopian border for the French Foreign Legion. When he didn't return after a week, members of his platoon packed his gear and assumed he was killed in action, but Erskine returned unharmed before they were sent out to search for him.
"I enlisted in the Marine Corps during a war," said Erskine, Logistics Vehicle System operator, Motor Transport Platoon, Support Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group. "Operation Desert Storm was going on, and I wanted to deploy."
Although he didn't make it to Operation Desert Storm, the meritorious lance corporal had three deployments under his belt less than two years after graduating boot camp in Parris Island, S.C.
"We were still driving five-speed, 5-tons back then," said Erskine, 39, from Youngstown, N.Y.
Five-speed 5-tons weren't the only things he was driving. His aggressive motivation may have been what drove him back overseas.
"I was in Kuwait for Operation Native Fury in 1994," said Erskine, who has a spouse and four children. "It was much like a clean-up effort."
Four years in the Marine Corps wasn't long enough for Erskine, who spent the majority of his enlistment deployed.
"At the end of my enlistment, I tried to stay in," said Erskine. "At the time they were cutting the number of members down, and my [military occupational specialty] was closed, along with four others I tried to get into."
He then decided to get out of the Marine Corps as a corporal if there wasn't a job available he was interested in, he said.
"It would have been beneficial to the Marine Corps if they let him stay in," said Gunnery Sgt. Samuel Riosminera, motor transport operations chief, Motor Transport Platoon, Support Co., 7th ESB, 1st MLG. "He's definitely an asset to the [career field]."
Erskine took on the same job once he was discharged from the service.
"I like working with my hands, so I went back to construction and driving tractor trailers when I got out," said Erskine, a Native American, who drives a Harley-Davidson. "I did it for twelve years."
Every job he had was better then his last, but Erskine said he was never happy.
"Every time I would see a military commercial, I would think about when I was in," said Erskine. "I missed the Marine Corps."
Again, Erskine decided to join the Marine Corps during a time of war, more than a decade after the end of his first duty assignment.
Erskine explained that he was eager to get back to the Marine Corps even though he would be a 37-year-old corporal in the same unit he left 12 years earlier.
To his surprise, the wealth of knowledge he obtained as a civilian worked to his advantage in the military.
"When I arrived at the unit, I noticed the Marines weren't using him to his potential," said Riosminera, 37, from Compton, Calif. "They may have been intimidated by his age. Now he is in charge of the entire section."
Transitioning from civilian to military life was not difficult for him.
"The transition was simple for me," said Erskine, "It feels like I never left."
Although the change may have been easy for him, strange looks and responses remind him everyday of his lost time in the service.
Most of his peers from his prior service are now senior leaders, and Erskine said he receives mixed reactions from his rank and age difference.
"A lot of people ask me if I was [demoted] or how does it feel to have to answer to sergeants that are younger in age," said Erskine. "I am glad I came back in as a corporal because I can influence the Marines."
Many staff non-commissioned officers spend a lot of time behind a desk or in an office somewhere, but Erskine believes senior leadership is being wasted when it's not spent on the troops.
"I have a lot of experience and patience that I didn't have before," said Erskine. "Now, I can teach junior Marines better because I am more knowledgeable than I used to be."
A certain degree of respect exists between 'Uncle Mike,' a nickname given to Erskine, and his junior Marines.
"There's nothing you can't ask him he won't have the answer to," said Lance Cpl. Christopher N. Petersen, motor vehicle operator, Motor Transport Platoon., Support Co., 7th ESB, 1st MLG. "I look up to him and a lot of other people do, too."
Influence and mentorship of young Marines is only part of what Erskine wants to accomplish in the Marine Corps.
"I am going to apply to be a warrant officer when I am eligible," said Erskine.
His diligence will increase his chances of success of becoming a warrant officer.
"He's a mature individual," said Riosminera."His work ethic goes above and beyond. I think he will be an effective warrant officer."
Most career Marines will retire at the age Cpl. Erskine is, but for him retirement is just an advantage of spending his life as a U.S. Marine. The real benefit for him will be influencing senior leadership and instilling core values into one Marine at a time, he said.
| Date Taken: | 12.07.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2009 17:40 |
| Story ID: | 42518 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 510 |
| Downloads: | 291 |
This work, Uncle Mike meets Uncle Sam: Take 2, by Sgt Whitney N. Frasier, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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