MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania - Marines with Black Sea Rotational Force 14 strive to accomplish the unit’s mission of promoting regional stability and security, increasing military capacity and interoperability, and maintaining partnerships with their counterparts in Eastern Europe.
Along with all of their efforts for mission accomplishment, the Marines still have yet one more goal to strive for while with BSRF-14; that goal is Marine of the Week.
Lance Cpl. Jorden Back, an electrician with BSRF-14 and Paramus, N.J., native, was selected for Marine of the Week for outstanding performance and leadership at Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania, Oct. 4, 2013.
Back said that he was surprised when he heard that he was chosen as Marine of the Week for BSRF-14.
“I didn’t expect it really, I didn’t expect anything because I was just doing my job,” said Back.
Back said that he believes he received the award due the time and effort that he’s put into learning new things during this deployment because the jobs that he’s currently doing aren’t everyday things for him, so he’s stepping out of the box.
“This [job] is different from what I’m usually doing because my military occupational specialty is a ‘field MOS’ so I’m usually out in the field [giving power to] tents, command operation centers, and things of that nature,” said Back. “[At M.K.] we’ve just tapped into the main box and wired everything [from there].”
Corporal Justin Mislivecek, a basic engineer equipment electrical systems technician with BSRF-14 and Poynette, Wis., native, said that he believes Back was chosen because he is always on top of the task at hand.
“Back was chosen for the award because he is a hard worker, he takes initiative, [the leadership] doesn’t have to tell him what to do because for the most part he already knows what to do, if he has a question he’ll ask it, and he’s just generally good at his job,” said Mislivecek.
Recently, Back, along with other electricians, have been setting up back-up generators on base because of a power outage due to inclement weather.
“I just wanted to make sure all of the Marines had some kind of light and warm water,” said Back. “We made sure the Moral Welfare and Recreation Center had power so that Marines could communicate with their families, because that’s the only place that we had wireless internet.”
Mislivecek said that the award of Marine of the Week really improves the morale of the Marines who receive it.
“The award is important because it increases confidence in Marines to know that their leadership is watching what they are doing,” said Mislivecek.
Back said that although there are very few negative things about his job, they are outweighed by all of the positive things that go along with his job.
“The best part of this job is that once everything is hooked and powered up, [you can] see that everybody’s happy, [which] is rewarding because, once you have everything powered up, you just feel so accomplished because everything comes to light,” said Back. “The hardest part about my job is dealing with the weather, especially when it’s really cold outside, because everything we do has to be done outside.”
Both Mislivecek and Back agree that the award of Marine of the Week is beneficial to not only Back, but Marines apart of BSRF-14 as well.
“This award will benefit [Back] because it will boost him and let him know that people are noticing how good of a job that he is doing,” said Mislivecek.
“This award will benefit not only me, but all of the [lance corporals] because it’s a little difficult to get responsibilities at this rank,” said Back. “I think that by receiving this award I’m showing everyone what we’re capable of and what we can accomplish, and what we can do for the unit that’s out here right now.”
Back said that while on deployment he hopes to teach a lot of people how to do his job because it’s interesting and beneficial to know, even back at home and in the civilian work, he wants to pick up the rank of corporal and to learn his MOS and the mechanics of it a bit better.
Having Back and the rest of the electricians attached to BSRF-14 directly impacts the effectiveness of the unit’s mission while at M.K., which consists of maintaining and strengthening a close and solid relationship with our partner nations in the region, promoting regional stability, and regional crisis management.