Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

41 years in the Marines

I didn’t know it was possible, but Col. Wayne Steele has served in the Marine Corps for 41 years. Now 61 years old, he is deployed to Afghanistan. He’s been a gunnery sergeant and a CWO5 and, for the last 30 years, an officer. One of his sons will retire from the Army before he ...

By , a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy.
Flickr
Flickr
Flickr

I didn't know it was possible, but Col. Wayne Steele has served in the Marine Corps for 41 years. Now 61 years old, he is deployed to Afghanistan. He's been a gunnery sergeant and a CWO5 and, for the last 30 years, an officer. One of his sons will retire from the Army before he retires from the Marines.

I didn’t know it was possible, but Col. Wayne Steele has served in the Marine Corps for 41 years. Now 61 years old, he is deployed to Afghanistan. He’s been a gunnery sergeant and a CWO5 and, for the last 30 years, an officer. One of his sons will retire from the Army before he retires from the Marines.

It reminds me of the time I saw an old soldier wearing an Americal combat patch in Baghdad. But he had broken time.

Thomas E. Ricks is a former contributing editor to Foreign Policy. Twitter: @tomricks1

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