Photo By Martin Egnash | Sergeants Major Holly and Bradley Prafke made history by retiring together after...... read more read more
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JACKSONVILLE, N.C. - A seldom seen event happened at the Marine Aircraft Group 29 flight line, July 26. Sgt. Maj. Bradley A. Prafke, and his wife, Sgt. Maj. Holly C. Prafke, retired in a joint retirement ceremony, after 30 years of serving the Marine Corps, and 26 years of service to each other.
The two got married as Lance Cpl. Bradley Prafke and Cpl. Holly Prafke, while stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“When I got to California, the first thing I thought of was cowboys and Marines, and then I met Brad,” said Holly. “I always joked that the Marines were looking for a few good men, and so was I. And when I found Brad, I realized I had one of the finest.”
Soon after getting married, they were stationed at Okinawa, Japan.
“I guess you could say getting stationed in MCB Okinawa was our tropical island honeymoon,” joked Bradley.
After Okinawa, the two of them were stationed at Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., where they served as mounted color guard Marines together.
“We had a lot of fun with that,” said Bradley. “The two of us got to ride horses in parades and football games all across that part of the country.”
Four years later they entered the drill field together.
“I always wanted to be a drill instructor, but I was never selected to go,” said Bradley. “But when the Marine Corps was in dire need of female drill instructors, they let us both go. I’m probably the only male Marine who got to be a drill instructor because the Corps needed more female drill instructors.”
Shortly after serving as drill instructors, the Prafkes were selected to go on the same first sergeant board, and were promoted the same day.
As first sergeants they were again stationed in Okinawa for three years, where they both deployed several times to Thailand, the Philippines and South Korea.
In 2010 Bradley came to Marine Corps Air Station New River, and Holly came to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.
“We enjoyed our time together in the Marine Corps, but we’re looking forward to our retirement,” said Bradley.
According to the Prafkes, after retirement, they plan on keeping busy with hobbies such as horseback riding, restoring classic cars and spending time with each other.
“After 30 years of service, we’re excited to start our 60 years of leave,” said Holly.
| Date Taken: | 07.26.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.30.2013 11:25 |
| Story ID: | 111052 |
| Location: | JACKSONVILLE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 718 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Married sergeants major make Marine Corps history, by Martin Egnash, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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