Photo By Kristen Wong | Maj. Amy Ebitz, the new provost marshal at the Military Police Department, chats with...... read more read more
Subscribe
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s Military Police Department welcomed Maj. Amy Ebitz last week as its new provost marshal.
Ebitz, her husband, Lt. Col. Curtis Ebitz, and their three children, will only be stationed in Hawaii for a year, before moving to Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan — each assuming command of a unit.
“[In a dual officer active duty household], it’s not unusual to have either one spouse or the other be screened for a command and accept a command,” said Pete Swainson, director, Manpower, Personnel and Administration Directorate. “However, to have both screened, selected, and assume command at the same time is extremely rare. It speaks to the quality and professionalism of the individuals selected.”
Amy Ebitz has been selected for promotion to lieutenant colonel and should pin on that rank before she assumes command of 3rd Military Police Battalion at Camp Foster in Okinawa, Japan. Curtis, 40,
is currently the assistant chief of staff for safety for U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, at Camp H.M. Smith. He will be the commanding officer of Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 1 at Camp Foster.
Curtis Ebitz, of Pittsburgh, said he is honored and humbled to be chosen to be a commanding officer, which he considers his proudest accomplishment in the Marine Corps. He said he and his wife were surprised that they were both selected at the same time.
“It was a very exciting day,” Curtis Ebitz said.
Although Amy Ebitz had previously visited Hawaii while on a temporary assignment of duty, this is the first time she has been stationed here.
While in the islands, Ebitz plans to take her children outdoors to experience “one of the most beautiful places there are.”
“We were both very happy to come [to Hawaii],” Amy Ebitz said.
Over the next year at MPD here, Amy Ebitz said she hopes to incorporate more technological equipment to increase security on the base, and to make sure that the department “works with the appropriate amount of manpower in order to fill vacated spaces.” But for now, she will take the time to become accustomed to the new command and see what needs to be improved upon.
“I stepped into a great place,” Ebitz said of MPD. “It’s a very professional organization already.”
Though several members of her family are also in the military, Ebitz said that joining the Marine Corps was more of a personal decision.
As a 4-year-old, Amy Ebitz, of Lawton, Okla., watched a performance by the U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon at Marine Barracks, in Washington.
“It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen,” she said.
Ebitz graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Cameron University, and was chosen to be a military police officer as her military occupation specialty.
To date, she has toured several duty stations — some more than once — such as Camp LeJeune, N.C., and Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and has been deployed to Iraq.
Prior to being selected as a battalion commander, Amy Ebitz has experienced leading a platoon and a company. She has spent three of her five years as a captain in the billet of a company commander, which is rare for a military police officer. Amy Ebitz considers herself fortunate that she was able to do what is most rewarding to her — leading Marines.
“To me, that’s what being an officer is really all about,” Ebitz said. “In some ways you learn as you go, but in some ways it’s the same. You have to remember what you’ve been taught in the Marine Corps and stick with it because it works … obviously you have to incorporate that with some common sense, humanity and judgement that you learn along the way.”
Amy and Curtis Ebitz met while attending Amphibious Warfare School in Quantico, Va., and have been married since 2003.
Curtis Ebitz calls her a “caring, compassionate, yet firm individual.”
“She is a great leader,” Curtis Ebitz said. “She puts [the] Marines’ welfare always before herself on a daily basis and she would rather see the Marines succeed then herself.”
Amy Ebitz said being part of a dual active duty family “has its challenges.” Keeping the family together and working on a military career at the same time requires working together as a team.
“I will sacrifice for her and she will sacrifice for me,” Curtis Ebitz said. “We’ve always been able to work it out. The Marine Corps has been very good to us as a family in keeping us together.”
As an active duty couple, they were separated by deployment shortly after they were married. Amy Ebitz said during the first three years of marriage, she and her husband were only able to live together for four months. Fortunately, the two were able to keep in touch through phone and email.
Sometimes Amy Ebitz describes her home life as “two Marines in the house” rather than a husband and wife. But having two Marines in the house can be beneficial. Because Curtis Ebitz has been promoted ahead of her, Amy Ebitz said she can learn from lessons of her husband’s experiences.
Neither Curtis nor Amy Ebitz plan to leave the Corps anytime soon. Amy Ebitz believes she will know when the time is right to retire. She will then put all of her focus into their children.
“I’d like to stay as long as I can,” Curtis Ebitz said. “I have no desire to retire at 20 [years].”
The Ebitz family will leave next year for Okinawa. Although Amy Ebitz is saddened that her family’s time in Hawaii will be short, she said she is honored and privileged to have been chosen to command a unit.
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2011 23:46 |
| Story ID: | 76326 |
| Location: | KANEOHE, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 620 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Base welcomes new provost marshal, by Kristen Wong, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
