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Not everyone who joins the U.S. Marine Corps has the opportunity to see firsthand the transformation and impact the Corps can have on a person prior to enlisting. U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Troy Taylor, 21, a 5011, military policeman (MP), with the Provost Marshal Office (PMO), Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina, saw the changes the Corps had on his older brother and decided he wanted that change for himself.
“The biggest thing for me is that I got to see the transformation from civilian to Marine firsthand because my older brother joined, and seeing the final product and seeing him on family day, seeing him standing tall, the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, it was a thing I wanted for myself,” said Taylor. “I told myself if they could fix him they could definitely fix me.”
Becoming a Marine was not the only influence that Taylor’s brother had on him. Stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, roughly 50 miles away from their home in San Diego, Taylor was able to regularly hear about his brother’s experience and the impact he had on the base as a MP.
“The way he relayed these stories showed and expressed the direct impact that you can have on the community, the Marines and on the installation,” said Taylor. “That’s an impact you don’t really get at such a substantial level in other career fields. Being out there as a junior Marine, as a young non-commissioned officer, you’re still having a direct noticeable impact on the base around you.”
In Taylor’s two and a half years as a MP, only six months of his time has been at MCAS Cherry Point. His first duty station was at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, with 2nd Law Enforcement (LE) Battalion, a deployable unit that has since been disbanded. The mission of MCAS Cherry Point PMO and 2nd LE Battalion were vastly different. Taylor had to quickly switch from being an MP whose main focus was being the subject matter expert on escalation of force, tactical sight exploitation, detainee operations and denial operations for 2nd Marine Division and 2nd Marine Information Group to now being an MP whose focus is on installation security and community safety.
“Down there on a day-to-day basis it’s more like a standard nine to five schedule but essentially we’re training, we’re getting ready for field operations, getting ready for ranges,” said Taylor. “Then, every month or so, we would have a field operation, we would have a range, or something to execute what it is we were working on that month. Versus here, this is a very, very structured job, I know my schedule, I know the days I’ll be working and it’s essentially a real job, it’s big boy rules.”
Outside of being a Marine and an MP, Taylor spends his off time reading history books, hiking and visiting historical sites.
“Being from San Diego and loving history, the first time coming here, I looked at it as one of the original 13 colonies, that alone was cool enough for me and a lot of people couldn’t care less, but actually setting foot in a place so deeply rooted in America’s history, that’s cool for me,” said Taylor.
Taylor said he plans on re-enlisting with the Corps and hopes to continue to protect and serve the community as a military policeman.
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2021 15:42 |
| Story ID: | 396502 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NC, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 51 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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