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U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jason Kellam serves in the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) as the assistant operations officer in the G-6 communications section. Throughout his twenty year career he served first as an enlisted Marine, earning the rank of staff sergeant, then commissioned into the warrant officer program, earning the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3. He now serves as a limited duty officer (LDO) at the rank of Captain. For Kellam, leading within each rank structure came not only with different expectations, but also provided different opportunities.
Kellam initially considered joining the Marine Corps during his senior year in high school. Unsure of which jobs were available, at first he decided against joining. Later, faced with a growing family, he decided to enlist with a signing bonus into the 2841 military occupational specialty (MOS), ground radio repairer, now called ground electronics transmission systems maintainer. His early enlisted years included a deployment to Iraq as a member of a provisional rifle company, which in part inspired him to reenlist.
"Other reasons that helped [me] to make the decision was that it was 2008, the housing market and economy had crashed, unemployment was high, and the Marine Corps was offering me a sizeable bonus, a decent duty station, and four years of employment," said Kellum.
After achieving the rank of staff sergeant during his second enlistment and deploying twice to Okinawa with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment as an electronics maintenance chief, Kellam began considering the Marine Corps warrant officer program.
“These were the people in my MOS community that were able to make things happen,” Kellam said. “I enjoy solving complex problems and projects and that’s what warrant officers in my community do.”
The warrant officer program is designed to provide the Marine Corps with technical specialists who perform duties that require extensive knowledge of a particular military occupational specialty, and can be assigned successive tours of duty in their primary MOS.
After his appointment to Warrant Officer, Kellam was assigned to Communications Company, 4th Marine Division, and served as site support staff. After seeing the positive impacts made on the local community by the Marine Corps, Kellam then decided to request a commission as a limited duty officer (LDO).
“Senior chief warrant officers in my MOS tend to stay more technically engaged with equipment specifics,” said Kellam. “LDOs tend to become more engaged with policies and procedures and also have opportunities to be company commanders.” Kellam decided to go the LDO route because he enjoyed working on large scale projects and leading Marines.
The Marine Corps LDO program is designed to provide technically oriented officers to perform duties that are limited to specific occupational specialties, require authority and responsibility greater than that normally expected of a warrant officer, require strong managerial skills, and are outside the normal development pattern for unrestricted officers or for which no unrestricted officers are available.
“It was rewarding to help young Marines develop new skills and mentor them in as many areas as I could,” Kellam said. “I realized that the scope of impact would be much larger as a limited duty officer and it is one of the things I’ve tremendously enjoyed, influencing Marines and having an impact on what we do and how we do it.”
Since becoming an LDO and serving as a Captain, Kellam has been able to provide an even wider influence both within 2nd MAW and across his occupational field. Twice each year, Kellam participates in the ground electronics maintenance advisory group, a Marine Corps-wide event in which senior leaders and available ranks from the community gather to deliver updates, discuss issues, and work on projects regarding topics of interest to the community. Through this venue, Kellam is able to collaborate with representatives from 1st and 3rd MAWs on topics that affect communication systems maintenance across the Marine Corps.
After twenty years of service, each day Capt. Kellam uses the lessons learned and skillsets he gained within three unique rank communities to support 2nd MAW's mission.
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2024 15:12 |
| Story ID: | 477477 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 2,657 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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