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    VMI Cadet receives prestigious Marine Corps Award

    LEXINGTON CITY, VA, UNITED STATES

    11.12.2016

    Story by Sgt. Caitlin Brink 

    4th Marine Corps District

    Dow is only the second VMI student to receive the award and one of 15 to be recognized across the nation since 2013. The award recognizes Dow’s achievements and superior performance while at the Marine Corps’ Officer Candidate School located in Quantico, Virginia. He was the honor graduate for his class – the highest performer out of more than 220 candidates from across the country.
    “I didn’t actually know what I was ranked whatsoever until the end of [Officer Candidate School],” said Dow, a 22-year-old native of Wallingford, Connecticut. “When I heard I was being awarded the Commandant’s Trophy, it came as a complete shock to me.”
    The award may have come as a shock for the young cadet, but for his leaders there was no doubt he would be successful.
    “I was facing the back window of the classroom and my way of gaining their attention is I start quoting Invictus,” said Capt. Shawn P. Riding, Marine Officer Instructor. “… and I just simply asked who could finish this. And Dow, without missing a beat, finished it. And I turned around and asked him what his plans were ... from that point on he has just continued to impress me throughout his two years here.”
    The award’s merit-based ranking is based on several criteria including overall academic achievement, performance on the Marine Corps physical fitness test and leadership ratings. Dow’s perseverance and dedication set him apart from his peers and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Marines Corps and the United States Naval Service.
    Dow began looking into a career in the Marines while searching for job opportunities during his time at the University of Alabama. He said he had noticed friends attending college for business degrees and the like but that path did not seem to have the challenge or fulfillment he was looking for.
    “I’m a history major, so I kind of knew how the United State has fought its wars,” said Dow. “I noticed that we’ve been most effective with Marines. It prompted my curiosity.”
    “I noticed the Marine Corps was a lot tougher, the standards were a lot higher so that motivated me to peruse the [Platoon Leaders Course] program at Alabama and transfer to [Virginia Military Institute],” said Dow. “I thought it was one of the hardest military schools I could go to and thought it would prepare me well for what I wanted to do in the Marine Corps.”
    The Platoon Leaders Course allows candidates to attend the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in two, six-week courses over their freshman and junior summers. The graduates then receive their commissioning ceremony to complete upon their college graduation.
    “We are a competition based organization, and nothing is going to be given to them. They’ll have to work for everything they get,” said Riding, 38, from Sumner, Washington.
    During his time at VMI, Dow showed an unselfish nature with a willingness to mentor and lead cadets around him – hoping for their own success as much as his own. He credits his own mentors for giving him the drive and motivation to never be satisfied with less than his best. He carried that with him through the rigorous training he received at OCS.
    “A big thing I was worried about was that I would not have met the expectations or capitalized on the great training I received here if I had not done my best,” said Dow. “Day in and day out, I’d had so many people spend so much time on me that if I didn’t try my hardest, I knew I’d be failing them.”
    Dow credits his Virginia Military Institute instructors and fellow cadets for molding him into the accomplished leader he has become.
    “I can look at them and know I did my best and worked as hard as I could. The feeling of completing something that previously I had only hoped to complete. Just the idea of even graduating was beyond my imagination four years ago.”
    The mission of OCS is to educate and train officer candidates in Marine Corps knowledge and skills within a controlled, challenging, and chaotic environment. The school evaluates and screens individuals for the leadership, moral, mental, and physical qualities required for commissioning as a Marine Corps officer.
    “He is a young man of character,” said Riding. “It’s that character that helps define him as a young man, and it helps shape a commitment and a conviction that he has for life. He knows it’s not about him, but it starts with him. That’s what sets him apart. He will be exceptional, without a doubt.”
    Dow is scheduled to graduate with a Bachelors of Arts degree in history with a minor in international studies. He will commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in December 2016. He will then attend The Basic School at Quantico, Virginia, with hopes to pursue a career as an infantry officer.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 11.12.2016
    Date Posted: 11.30.2016 09:17
    Story ID: 215974
    Location: LEXINGTON CITY, VA, US
    Hometown: SUMNER, WA, US
    Hometown: WALLINGFORD, CT, US

    Web Views: 1,436
    Downloads: 4

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