Sergeant Jake Mettam, an amphibious assault vehicle mechanic with Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Amphibious Assault Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, was presented the Ordinance Noncommissioned Officer of the Year 2015 Ground Ordinance Maintenance Association award at Camp Lejeune, N.C., December 12, 2016.
The award is presented annually to one lower enlisted personnel, NCO, Staff NCO, and officer to highlight their actions and impact within the ground ordinance maintenance military occupation specialty. Mettam was one out of the 1,700 marines eligible to receive the award.
“That was my competition, you know, to beat out every single other ground ordinance Marine, not just AAV mechanics, but also optics, the armory, machinists, basically everyone in the 2100 field of MOS’s,” says Mettam.
“It’s surreal. I was told that I was being submitted but I never thought − I never thought I’d get it. And it’s kind of humbling,” said Mettam. Sitting down with him face to face, it is easy to understand his merits.
“Any time I see a deficiency I try to jump on it and work with that person that’s in charge of that, or just take care of it on the spot; it’s easier that way and I just do every single thing possible to help correct it.” Mettam explained, “I don’t try to focus on doing one specific thing, because I don’t think I can be as effective if I’m just good at one thing, like working on an engine, or if I’m just good at troubleshooting something; so I try to keep my spectrum pretty broad.”
“He’s definitely a hard charger,” says Master Gunnery Sgt. Don Ream, the 2nd AABn chief. “He’s definitely got a lot of initiative and he’s a soft starter, meaning he doesn’t need to be told. He sees the need; he fills the need. That’s how he operates.”
In the case that Mettam can’t provide the best quality control available, he will certainly do the best he can to rectify a problem until it can be worked on properly.
“We were in 29 palms, out in the middle of the desert for training,” remembers Mettam. “During the operation we were doing, we didn’t have the availability to be running parts back and forth because of where we were…One of our AAVs had a cooling fan issue; their whole entire cooling fan drive system basically blew up, and we didn’t have all of the proper equipment to repair it… so my staff sergeant and I scrounged around the desert for about an hour, and we found a piece of scrap aluminum. I stayed up until around 2-3 in the morning just grinding away until it fit. We put it all back together and it was awesome; the fan worked and we were able to get them back on the road to finish the operation.”
Mettam, who has been in the Marine Corps for seven years and hopes to one day become a warrant officer, has the overflowing drive to overcome any obstacle in his way. This ‘Jack of all trades; Master of none’ is fittingly the embodiment of the GOMA Award.
| Date Taken: |
12.22.2016 |
| Date Posted: |
12.22.2016 15:44 |
| Story ID: |
218590 |
| Location: |
CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: |
260 |
| Downloads: |
1 |
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This work, Marine Recieves 2015 GOMA Award, by Sgt Anthony Mesa, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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