Posted on 11/18/2005 4:49:45 PM PST by SandRat
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (Nov. 18, 2005) -- Every Marine who has ever served has made some type of sacrifice in order to wear the “Eagle, Globe and Anchor,” but these sacrifices aren’t always paid in the form of sweat from countless humps and physical training sessions, neither are they from the shedding of blood on the battlefield, nor from the feelings of loneliness during long separations from family and friends while deployed.
Sometimes the sacrifices made are simply the other opportunities that were passed up in order to join the Corps. Still, it can be argued that most Marines, once they become part of the “brotherhood,” would not change their decision to join for anything, no matter what life they left behind to do so.
One such Marine is Lance Cpl. Sean McDaniel, a rifleman assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, who, in a previous life, was a professional mountain-bike rider.
“I raced for the ‘No Breaks Racing Team’ on the West Coast circuit for three years before joining the Corps,” said McDaniel, who had 15 national sponsors at the height of his mountain bike-racing career. “It was a good life, but a lot of pressure. The sponsors took care of all our travel expenses: food, hotels, bikes and everything like that, but the bottom line is you’ve got to win or place high to make any decent money,” admitted the Tucson, Ariz. native.
As a coveted member of one of the top mountain bike-racing teams on the West Coast, McDaniel also had to deal with the pressures of making the team every year.
“Just like any sport, there are younger guys coming up, trying to prove themselves. Just like I was my first year,” remarked McDaniel. “When one guy comes up, that means another guy has got to come down. There’s a lot of competition. Once you make the team, you’ve got to stay on top of your game.
“Fortunately, for three years, I got to experience a life that not too many people get a chance to. I’ve still got the bug and the fire to compete on that level, but I felt a strong sense of duty to serve my country — especially after September 11 — so I’ve never regretted my decision to join the Marine Corps.”
McDaniel said there are a lot of parallels between being a professional athlete and a Marine rifleman. “Infantry Marines are the pro athletes of the military,” commented McDaniel. “Just like pro athletes, they put in countless hours honing their skills, training as a team, and keeping in top physical shape. Also, they study the enemy who is the opponent. But there is a lot more at stake being a ‘grunt’ (infantry Marine) than there is being a pro athlete. When you are a Marine, the consequences are life and death. You can never have a bad day, and you constantly have to be focused. The consequences are just too great. Marines are athletes, but war is not a game.”
McDaniel recently returned to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, after training for six weeks with 1/3 at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, Calif., and the Marine Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., in preparation for 1/3’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“I’m glad to be going,” said McDaniel. “This is the reason you join the Corps.”
Though McDaniel said he is “gung-ho” to serve in Afghanistan, he readily admits that after his enlistment is up, he plans to resume his mountain-biking career and also plans on trying to become a professional motorcycle racer.
“I’m going to get back on the mountain-bike circuit, preferably with ‘No Breaks’ again, but I’ve also got my eye on branching off into professional street-bike (motorcycle) racing,” said McDaniel, who has previous motorcycle racing experience at the amateur level. “It’s really hard to describe the feeling you get on the race track, going a 180 miles per hour. I can definitely say that it’s addictive. I like things that move fast.”
Perhaps that part of McDaniel’s personality that feels “the need for speed” is why he has seemed so adapted for the current billet he is holding as a battalion mail clerk.
“People don’t always realize it, but a mail clerk can make or break a hearty portion of morale in a unit, especially during a deployment,” said 1st Lt. Matthew Kralovec, 1/3 adjutant and a native of Fairfax, Va. “Having a squared away mail clerk with an eye for attention to detail is vital. Lance Corporal McDaniel is doing a great job, and he attacks each mission every single day.”
Staff Sgt. Philip Myers, 1/3’s administrative chief for Headquarters and Service Company, said he appreciates the hard work McDaniel and the other mail clerks are doing.
“Mail clerks need to be independent, be proactive, and take initiative,” said the Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native. “Lance Corporal McDaniel exhibits all those traits in the current billet he is holding. He’s a good Marine, and I respect the fact that he has dreams for the future and, more importantly, a plan. I have no doubt he will follow through on those plans and return to being the best professional mountain-bike racer he can be. If anything, he might even be better, even with the layoff, because of all the discipline the Marine Corps has provided for him. Skills learned in the Marine Corps can transfer to just about anything you can imagine.”
For his part, McDaniel said his priorities are serving out his enlistment with honor, using the skills he has learned as an 0311, Marine rifleman in Afghanistan and making sure that all the Marines in 1/3 get their mail from loved ones as fast as is humanly possible when they are deployed,
And if McDaniel has anything to do with it, that will be at about 180 miles per hour.
Laying down the hollow fame, faux adulation, fleeting riches of this world to become;... A MARINE!
Wow....
Made my day.
Anyone want to hit the trails around Monument Colorado, btw?
BTTT
Semper Fi ~ Bump!
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