- [Interviewer] Rank and your full name sir?
- I am Second Lieutenant Noah Furbush,
United States Marine Corps.
- [Interviewer] And where did you grow up?
- I grew up in a small farm town
outside of Columbus, Ohio called Kenton.
There's not much to do where I'm from, except play football.
We have one stop light where I'm from
and all my neighbors were Amish.
- [Interviewer] So football
is kind of a way of life in Kenton?
- Absolutely, there's not much to do around town
except play football.
- [Interviewer] So sir, how long have you been
playing football?
- I started playing football in third grade
and I quit half way through the season
cause I hated it so much. (laughs)
- [Interviewer] So if you hated it
how'd you continue on in it?
- So, I quit half way through the season
when I started in third grade 'cause I hated it so much,
but it was at that time my dad told me
that I could never do something halfway again.
He taught me what commitment was
and from then on I picked football back up in sixth grade
and after that the rest was kind of history.
I learned to love the game
and it took me to some amazing places.
- [Interviewer] When it came to leadership?
- Definitely my dad.
My dad taught me commitment.
My mom taught me the values that I hold,
the values like honor, courage and commitment.
Another role model of mine
was my high school football coach, Coach Mauk.
We would show up every morning at 0500
to train and work hard.
We'd work harder and longer than anybody else.
And he taught me discipline,
and that discipline carried over into
playing football for Michigan,
and also here with the Marine Corps.
- [Interviewer] Excellent.
Do you have any challenges or battles that you had to face
when growing up in high school?
- In high school, a week before my senior year, excuse me,
a week before my senior season of high school football,
I was diagnosed with a broken left wrist.
It was devastating.
I was excited about the oncoming season.
Excited about what our team could do
and it really crushed me
when I realized my wrist was broken.
But I knew I had to play through the season
with a big ugly cast on my hand,
'cause I had to play for all my teammates and my buddies.
So that was one of the biggest challenges
I faced in high school,
and moving on to college,
one of the toughest things I went through in college
was something called a hundred hour exam.
So, during my masters program,
we did a hundred hour exam
which meant throughout the course of four days
you had to plan, design
and write a 50 page proposal for a space mission,
that involved a lower earth orbit constellation.
And so, that same weekend I also had to play
a tough away game against Rutgers.
So I had to plan and prepare for that game as well.
And that combination of physical and mental drain
that those 48, excuse me, 100 hours had on me
was almost what every day felt like at OCS.
- [Interviewer] Wow.
Seems like you needed a lot of focus
and stick-to-it-ness to follow through on that.
- Absolutely.
Every day was a physical and mental grind.
- [Interviewer] So, how did you, you know,
just backing up a little bit,
how did you come to be a student at Michigan
and play football there?
- What drew me to Michigan was their combination of
one of the best engineering programs in the country,
as well as one of the best college football programs
in the country
and you won't find that combination anywhere else.
- [Interviewer] Now you,
you majored in aerospace engineering there?
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] And what drew you to that major?
- I wanted to be a pilot ever since I could remember.
So I figured it'd be best to know how the planes work
in order to fly 'em.
So I decided to major in aerospace engineering.
- [Interviewer] So what's a memory that sticks out to you
in playing football in Michigan?
What were some of the highs and the lows if you will?
- The highest point of playing football at Michigan
was getting to see my parents and my family
after every game.
(sniffing)
- [Interviewer] It's okay.
(sniffing)
(laughing)
- So proud of you.
Just hold it together.
- Thank you.
So the high point of playing football in Michigan
was getting to see my parents and my family
after every game.
They didn't miss a game in five years
and they're here today at graduation for OCS.
They mean the world to me.
- [Interviewer] That's great, that's great.
So, what,
sir what drew you to go talk to the Marine recruiter?
What, what said, hey, united st--you know,
you have this plan, you know, aerospace engineering,
everything you knew then,
what said, 'I wanna go talk to a Marine Corps Recruiter?'
- I grew up a huge Star Wars fan.
I wanted to be Hans Solo, flying the Millennium Falcon
and the closest thing to that is being a Marine Corps pilot.
So that's what I wanted to be.
So, that drew me into a Marine Corps recruiter.
From the moment I started talking
to a Marine Corps recruiter
I could tell there was something special about the Marines.
The first person I talked to was Mr. Irvine
and I could tell he cared about me.
He cared about what I had to say
and he cared about my life.
Gunnery Sergeant Papel, he showed me what enthusiasm
and excitement looked like.
The way he carried himself was second to none
and Captain Butters, he was every bit of a Marine Officer
and a Marine leader and just a leader in general
that I wanted to be.
So seeing those guys, I wanted to be like them.
And that's what drew me to talk to a Marine Recruiters
and to be a Marine Officer.
- [Interviewer] Outstanding, that's great to hear.
So, to get ready for a football season you have to train,
condition yourself, get to practice,
how did you prepare for Officer Candidate School?
- I had quite the transition from being a football player
to being a Marine Officer Candidate.
I had to loose 30 pounds, had to cut off all my hair.
I had to start running farther than 40 yards at a time.
Endurance workouts, especially the running,
really got me way out of my comfort zone.
- [Interviewer] You played
in one of the toughest conferences in college football
and you know, you show up to OCS, you know,
and you've had some, I think, you know,
Michigan has some great coaches there.
Great strength and conditioning coaches
and then you had to show up here to OCS,
you got a sergeant instructor and everything like that.
What was that like?
What was that transition from there?
Was there anything that maybe helped
or assisted you along the way?
- When I was at Michigan,
I think I was one of our defensive coordinators
favorite person to scream at.
Don Brown, you can ask anyone,
Don Brown loved yelling and screaming at Furbush.
So that prepared me well but at the end of the day,
nothing compares to a sergeant instructor
screaming and yelling in your face for hours and hours.
And you don't get any break from it.
- [Interviewer] What was the most challenging part of OCS?
- The most challenging part, sorry,
- [Interviewer] You're all fine, you're good.
- The most challenging part of OCS was
sleep depravation and working together as a team
in that chaotic environment, especially in the beginning.
A lot of people don't have prior military experience
or as much experience working together in teams
and it's hard to get everyone together,
moving to the same heartbeat.
- [Interviewer] When you, what'd you learn about leadership
while you're at OCS?
Obviously, you're a leader in the football team.
Now, but coming here what did you,
what was some other things you learned about leadership?
- I learned a lot about leadership here.
I learned that it's more,
its about more than just wins and losses.
It's about more than just accomplishing the mission.
It's about caring about the people that you're leading
and that are to your left and to your right.
It's about forming relationships.
I learned that from my sergeant instructors,
GySgt Tarvis, GySgt. Butler, GySgt. Birch
and my platoon commander Capt. O'Donnell.
They all taught me what leaders look like.
- [Interviewer] And like,
let me move on to my next question.
You played linebacker, obviously,
and that takes an aggressive, fighting spirit, you know,
coming into the Marine Corps that's what we're looking for
out of the men and women that join our ranks
this aggressive, fighting spirit.
Where does your fighting spirit come from?
Where do you draw that from?
- My fighting spirit comes from my family.
I fight for them.
And I fight for my buddies to my left and to my right.
The guys I stood with today, on the parade deck
and graduated with, I fight for them.
- [Interviewer] Sure.
Very good, that's a very good quote, answer.
How does it feel to go through all this training
and, you know, finally you're a United States Marine?
- It's a tremendous sense of accomplishment
to have graduated today and to become a 2nd Lieutenant.
I'm very thankful for all the people
that helped me to get to this point.
I wouldn't have made it,
even close to here, without them.
I'm just, incredibly proud
to be a part of this band of brothers,
to call myself a Marine.
- [Interviewer] Excellent.
Few of those final questions, sir.
Real quick, what do your parents
think about you becoming a Marine?
- (laughs) My parents, my parents were apprehensive at first
when they knew that I wanted to become a Marine.
They knew I had a good college degree
and thought maybe I should get an engineering job
or try to continue to play football.
At the end of the day I wanted a unique challenge.
I wanted to lead Marines.
I wanted to become a United States Marine.
- [Interviewer] Excellent.
In your own, you know, like we talked about,
what do you think of
when you think of a Marine Corps Officer?
- When I think of a Marine Corps Officer I picture
my recruiters Capt. Butters.
I picture my platoon commander here at OCS, Capt. O'Donnell.
They're a leader.
They know how to lead some of the finest individuals
that you'll ever meet.
They're physically imposing.
They're strong, they look good in their uniforms.
Uniforms are immaculate at all times.
And they're always challenging themselves
to grow as human beings.
They're always reading books.
There's always a book in their hand
or they're recommending books to other people.
They're always growing as people too.
Sort of apprehensive at first
but now I truly believe
they're incredibly proud of what I've become
and all the changes that the Marine Corps' had on me.
And it's, makes me very proud to see that.
- [Interviewer] Nice, all right.