Marine in uniform surrounded by a group of men and children

Marine Corps

Infantry officer, 2009–2013

I went to Officer Candidates School the summer after my junior year at Washington University in St. Louis and was commissioned a second lieutenant the next year. The Marine Corps made me an infantry officer, and I led a weapons platoon in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines.

In 2011 we deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Much of the work was alongside the Afghan National Police: patrolling, training, and trying to leave the district a little more stable than we found it.

Every morning started the same way, with Marines gathered around whatever coffee we could make. That ritual, and the people in it, is the thread that runs through everything I have done since.

Training

Marines carrying packs up a mountain trail beneath snowy peaks

Marines with loaded packs walking through muddy water

A Marine performing a pull-up while wearing a weighted vest

A line of tracked armored vehicles on a desert training ground

A Marine Corps sign reading Winners never quit, quitters never win

A tank on rocky desert terrain with mountains in the distance

Close view of a helicopter marked Marines on a wet ship deck

Helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft parked on a ship's flight deck

Yellow stair risers labeled Justice, Judgement, Dependability and Decisiveness

Afghanistan

A flock of sheep sharing a dusty road with people and vehicles — Helmand Province, 2011

Marines and men in uniform walking through tall grass on patrol

A barber cutting a man's hair in a sunlit shop lined with mirrors

Two helicopters flying over trees in a dusty orange sky

A silhouetted figure seen through green night-vision optics

A smiling boy holding a duck, surrounded by children beside a road

Marines walking along a shaded path between irrigation channels

Service members seated inside a military transport aircraft under green cabin lighting

Next Compass Coffee

Marine Corps

Infantry officer, 2009–2013

Training Training 9 photos Collapse

Afghanistan Afghanistan 9 photos, 3 videos Collapse

Training

Afghanistan