Instructor leads fight with MCMAP

Photo By Sgt. Melissa Lee | Staff Sgt. Jeremy Meadows, a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor trainer with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 and a Lubbock, Texas, native, holds a Marine in a head lock while grappling aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., April 22. Meadows is one of only a few second-degree black belts aboard the air station.  

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, UNITED STATES

05.22.2013

Story by Lance Cpl. Melissa Lee 

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – In the world’s strongest fighting force, there are only a select few who can say they have earned a second degree black belt in the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. Staff Sgt. Jeremy Meadows is one of the few who proudly wear two red tabs aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.

Before enlisting in the Marine Corps, Meadows, a MCMAP instructor trainer with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 and a Lubbock, Texas, native, was a black belt in taekwondo. When he joined, MCMAP was still very new and unknown to many Marines.

During the grey belt training, the challenging physical training and combat conditioning was something that made MCMAP fun, explained Meadows.

“I got my green belt instructor tab in 2006,” said Meadows. “From that point, I got back to my command and started training Marines and I fell in love with it. I like being in the dirt with the Marines, I would do that any day of the week.”

The course is designed to not only prepare Marines for hand-to-hand combat, but to better the Corps as a whole. MCMAP is based on a synergy of three elements: physical fitness, mental strength and soundness of character.

“I try to style my life around the three synergies,” said Meadows. “I just keep that in my mindset and try to better myself that way.”

Meadows constantly sustains and passes his knowledge to other Marines. It is pointless to have knowledge and skills if it is not shared with others, added Meadows.

“The humility of a martial arts instructor understands that, yes, you do know a few things, but, what do you have to prove,” said Meadows. “You should use those techniques to help other people.”

Meadows wouldn’t expect anything out of his Marines that he could not do himself, explained Cpl. James Vandling, a green belt MCMAP instructor and co-worker of Meadows and a Randolph, N.J., native.

Meadows affects Marines all around him with his level of motivation and professionalism, whether he is training for MCMAP or working in his shop. Meadows is the type of Marine his subordinates should strive to be, added Cpl. Daitoine Austin, an operations noncommissioned officer with HMH-462.

“I take a lot from his leadership style,” said Austin, a Cleveland, native. “You don’t have many Marines that will go the distance to better Marines. He’s not afraid of a challenge and he’s definitely not afraid of change.”

Meadows uses what he knows as a martial arts instructor trainer and as a staff NCO to better the upcoming generation and ensure the legacy of greatness continues.

“I hope they take bits and pieces of my leadership style and apply it to theirs and strive everyday to lead by example,” said Meadows. “You have to step in front and show your Marines that you’re willing to do everything they do.”

• Date Taken: 05.22.2013
• Date Posted: 05.22.2013 18:58
• Story ID: 107402
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, US
• Hometown: CLEVELAND, OH, US
• Hometown: LUBBOCK, TX, US
• Hometown: RANDOLPH, NJ, US