From ship to shore; radio reconnaissance Marine prepares for the unknown

Photo By Sgt. Luke Kuennen | U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Collin Covington, a cadre instructor with Radio Reconnaissance Operator Course, poses for a photo prior to a surf passage training event, Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, May 2, 2019. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Luke Kuennen)  

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HI, UNITED STATES

05.02.2019

Story by Sgt. Luke Kuennen    

Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Within and without the Marine Corps, the term “reconnaissance,” referring to the subset of special operations capable advanced infantrymen, invokes a certain respect. From Mark Wahlberg’s fantastical portrayal of Bob Lee Swagger in “Shooter” to the almost more unbelievable (but true) exploits of the likes of Staff Sgt. Jimmie Earl Howard, one thing is made clear; the last place you want to be is on the receiving end of a recon Marine’s muzzle.
The reality of the reconnaissance community, however, is again stranger than fiction. The allure of being the best of the best draws more than your typical archetype of a Hollywood trigger-puller.
Radio reconnaissance is a small subset of the reconnaissance community in which intelligence analysts from radio battalions are given the training and skill set of a reconnaissance Marine. It’s a melding of two entirely different occupational specialties, producing individuals that are truly unique.
Enter Collin Covington.
A corporal with 3rd Radio Battalion (3rd RadBn), III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, I recently met with Covington at a training exercise aboard Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
“I’m gonna try my best to not talk like a surfer dude,” Covington told me with a smile as we were getting started. “’Nah, man, whatever dude, it’s cool.’ Can you catch me if I start doing any of that?” I assured him I would.
“I joined into the 0200 field, or intelligence analyst. I’m also a Russian linguist. I arrived at 3rd RadBn, and I found radio reconnaissance,” Covington said. “I had no idea what it was, but I saw that they were hard chargers. They went out into the unknown, they did dangerous work, and I was able to do my job in what I saw as a more physical and real way.”
It became immediately clear I wasn’t talking to just any “surfer dude.” After casually dropping that on top of his already demanding primary occupation of being an intelligence analyst, he was also proficient in Russian (one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn, according to its classification in the Defense Language Aptitude Battery), he detailed how he came into the role of a radio reconnaissance Marine.
“I came to my battalion imagining we’d be with a bunch of nerds,” he said with a laugh. “That’s what I went to school with. A lot of quiet, introverted Marines. We played Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, all of that stuff, and I’m all about it. Then one day I saw a team of people on the side of the road carrying a log. They looked miserable. I thought they were maybe infantry, recon, or scout snipers, but no, it was the radio reconnaissance platoon of my battalion. They looked like death, they’d been running since three, four o’ clock in the morning. I saw that, and compared what could have been for me. Did I want to work every day in a room without windows, or push myself to new limits every day? I had passed all of my schools to be a qualified linguist and a signals intelligence operator, so I was looking for my next challenge. Radio reconnaissance gave it to me.”
At this point, I was a bit unnerved. Covington’s words spilled from his mouth in a stream of consciousness that was effortlessly succinct. He was obviously fiercely intelligent, and it’s always tough to run an interview with someone who is blatantly smarter than you are. Regardless, we pressed on.
“I think that in Marine Corps we have the commonality of when we enlist, we’re typically looking for some direction, some purpose, and maybe a little bit of danger,” Covington said. “The military is kind of sexy to guys like us.”
Approaching the end of his contract, Covington is continuing the pursuit of the facets of military contingency operations in a different avenue as a veteran.
“There are lots of awesome career options in the Marine Corps for people in radio reconnaissance and also for linguists, however, I’m going to use my GI Bill benefits to go back to school and finish my bachelor’s degree in Russian and move into war journalism,” Covington said. “I’ve been given every tool I need to be successful in that field. The Marine Corps gave me a language, it flew me around the world, and it’s taught me about global cultures. On top of that, I’ve been in several conflict areas around the world, and it’s given me the interest in foreign economies and cultures in conflict.”
There’s no shortage of prospects in the world for Covington to apply his unique set of skills and expertise to. What is rare, however, is a bilingual former Marine setting his sights on a very different (but no less lofty role) within the war zone: telling the stories of those in strife who would otherwise have no voice.
“I think it takes a certain type of person to do this job. The world needs people with the attitude and the gall to step into these roles. The world needs former Marines to go against the norm, to tell those stories that would otherwise go untold. To spread the truth. We look at journalists [abroad] that are being killed every day. Journalism is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world right now because the truth is dangerous- but it’s worth so much.”

• Date Taken: 05.02.2019
• Date Posted: 05.07.2019 17:30
• Story ID: 321193
• Location: MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HI, US