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PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. - Most of the time, one can find the bald-headed Marine of average height and build at the Combat Swim Tank, sporting the signature tan utility demolition trunks and green mesh shirt of a Marine Corps instructor trainer of water survival.
More than likely, Sgt. Dwight Whitaker, a MCITWS and police sergeant for the Combat Swim Tank, is training recruits to be amphibious in nature or Marines to become Marine Corps instructors of water survival.
“By far, [Whitaker is] the most mature, professional, tactful Marine I’ve known – as a sergeant,” said Gunnery Sgt. Dario Contreras, staff non-commissioned officer in charge of the Combat Swim Tank. “He loves being a MCITWS, a Marine, a drill instructor, and he enjoys teaching, both recruits and Marines.”
Whitaker, 29, said he doesn’t see the Marine Corps as a job.
“I truly look at it as a passion. I wake up every morning with that same passion, ready to go to work and execute whatever task is at hand,” he said.
Whitaker’s Marine Corps journey began nearly 10 years ago.
After graduating high school in his hometown of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Whitaker wanted to enlist in a service.
“It was a smooth transition from high school civilian life to structured military life,” he said. “And it’s been that way ever since.”
Every military branch tried to sway Whitaker’s choice with what their service had to offer, except one.
“[The recruiter] didn’t say much to me except, ‘Do you have what it takes?’” Whitaker said. “That was pretty much the signing deal for me. I wanted to do it.”
He arrived at the Military Entrance Processing Station in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 19, 2002. Three days later, he was shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
After recruit training, Whitaker attended Marine Combat Training and followed on to his military occupation specialty school for motor transportation. Three deployments later, he ended up back where it all began, Parris Island; this time to transform qualified civilians into basic Marines.
“Being a drill instructor is definitely unique in its own,” Whitaker said.
The influence a drill instructor has on the Corps makes the job an enormous responsibility, he said. Whitaker said some people do not understand that recruits leave an impact on their drill instructors just as much as their drill instructors leave an impact on them.
“It’s definitely a hard job, but if you have an understanding of the impact that you leave for your Marines, it actually measures your success once you return to the fleet,” he said.
Whitaker was assigned to become a water survival instructor after serving the drill field successfully for 14 months.
“Being a swim instructor here at the combat training tank has its own stressors,” Whitaker said. “Obviously, our mission here is to qualify them in water survival basic skills, but most importantly, that the number of recruits that walk into this hatch are the same number of recruits that walk out.”
His co-workers have seen his passion in the work he does with recruits.
“When we get a recruit on the tower who’s scared, he goes up there and talks to the recruit and somehow magically, that recruit is finally convinced to jump,” said Staff Sgt. Marie Jaekel, a fellow swim instructor at the combat swim tank.
Aside from training Marines and recruits, Whitaker is also responsible for the overall running of the swim tank, which includes the pool itself, pool water, structure of the building, all the gear used and any kind of maintenance that needs to be done.
“[Whitaker] is self-motivated in everything he does – I don’t have to tell him anything,” Contreras said. “Every time he sees anything wrong he fixes it automatically and probably makes it better. He is the go-to guy here at the pool deck. He’s quick to help somebody else and he is very dependable,” Contreras continued. “If you want a good sergeant, that’s who you want – Sgt. Whitaker.”
Contreras said Whitaker is also very knowledgeable in what he does. When Whitaker found out he was to become police sergeant for the swim tank, he began to research how to properly operate the pool generators and other equipment.
“He’s compassionate, passionate, and enthusiastic; he cares about getting the job done,” Jaekel said.
One thing both Jaekal and Contreras agreed on was that Whitaker acts above his rank.
“He’s a very mature individual who’s experienced and responsible,” Jaekal said. “He’s got the demeanor and experience and knowledge of a rank above, maybe two.”
“His work ethic – the dedication he has for the Marine Corps – that’s what drives him,” Contreras said.
Whitaker is slated to return to Lima Co., 3rd Recruit Training Battalion and finish his tour as a drill instructor at the end of this year. In October 2012, he returns to the fleet to continue serving his Corps.
“My inspiration to come to work is not only to lead Marines,” he said. “It is to take what you know and your life experience, and apply that to the younger generation in order to make something better.”
Editor’s note: Faces of Parris Island is a series of articles about Marines who work on Parris Island and in the Eastern Recruiting Region to directly or indirectly support recruit training.
| Date Taken: | 08.31.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2011 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 76320 |
| Location: | PARRIS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 283 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Faces of Parris Island: Sgt. Dwight Whitaker, by LCpl Francisco Abundes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
