Growing up in New Mexico, Jason watched as his older cousins joined the United States Marine Corps. He even had the pleasure of seeing one of them graduate from MCRD in San Diego. Jason also had an uncle who was a Marine during his younger years. He remembers looking up to them quite a bit, and thinking to himself just how much of an honor it must be to hold the title of “U.S. Marine”. Jason began to see himself as eventually being a part of the Corps. He remembers watching the television during Operation Desert Storm, seeing the pictures of combat, and turning to his mom to say, “I will be there one day!” She said if that is what he wanted to do, she would support him 100%.
Little did he know at the time that he would eventually be in the same theater just over a dozen years later as a U.S. Marine. Jason did not join the Marine Corps the way he wanted to, straight out of high school. As a senior, he was already in the delayed entry program. But, because he failed to graduate on time, he was initially given an administrative separation from the Corps. Receiving a phone call from his recruiter letting him know that he was no longer on schedule to leave for boot camp because of this was devastating. Not only was this devastating, it was embarrassing. Jason’s family was so proud of the fact that he was going to follow in the footsteps of other family and join the Marines. Now, he was just a failure. That crushed his dreams for a few years, but he was able to bounce back and joined just before he turned 22 in October 2000.
Maybe it was because he was older than a lot of the other men, but the drill instructors immediately seemed to put him into a leadership position. Wanting to be a leader is what led Jason to join the Marine Corps. He completed boot camp in early 2001 as a squadleader and he went on to complete the School of Infantry and did Guard Duty before hitting the fleet.
Jason was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. He had read about the Marines of the 5th Marine Regiment and the legacy of everything that they have done. This was an incredible honor. Looking back… the other Marines and Jason coming fresh out of SOI did not check into their Unit in their Service Uniforms… No, they checked in to the Unit out in the field and hit the ground running. At one point, he looked around and saw other Marines digging fighting holes, AAV’s in the background, Squad Leaders briefing their squads… Jason thought to himself, “This is it! I am a real Marine!”
From Jason: I am very proud of my service and accomplishments as a United States Marine. I am now the proud owner of Resolution Gear, LLC. Through my business, we are committed to providing quality products, building relationships with and serving those in service, giving back to our community, and honoring the memories of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. We have established a guiding business philosophy of 51% of profit going to charitable donation and 49% of profit returning to the business. Resolution Gear’s business will always be second to helping others out.
