4A DECEMBER 12, 2013
THE GLOBE, CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, ROMANIA
Marine shows strength, support from afar LANCE CPL. KRISTA JAMES Black Sea Rotational Force
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2014 Military Spouse Awards TM
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NOMINATE YOUR HERO NOMINATION PERIOD BEGINS DECEMBER 2013 AWARDS CEREMONY MAY 15, 2014
eing away from family during the holidays is tough for anyone. For service members, this can be even harder due to deployments, and for some, being away from home can mean losing precious time with loved ones who are sick. Lance Cpl. Samuel Bowers, a team leader with Black Sea Rotational Force 14 (comprised of Marines from 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division), knows this struggle all too well. As Marine of the Week, Bowers has demonstrated the core values of honor, courage and commitment, including leadership abilities, hard work, determination, physical strength, and above all else, mental toughness. While deployed during the holidays, he is missing out on valuable time with his mother. Bowers admits the hardest part about being a Marine is being away from home, especially while his mother spends her first holiday battling breast cancer. Next to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women. According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer will claim the lives of approximately 39,620 women in 2013 alone. However, there are more than 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S. at this time. Bowers’ mother, Teresa Skinner-Bowers, agrees the most challenging part of her son being a Marine is the fact he is not with the family. “I was excited, proud and terrified (when he told me he was joining the military),” said Bowers’ mother. “Excited because he’s doing something positive in his life and serving our country, and terrified that he’d lose his life in the process. That’s the hardest part about having him be a Marine, is that he can’t be a Marine at home.” “She found out in April,
Photo by Lance Cpl. Krista James
Lance Cpl. Samuel Bowers, a team leader with Black Sea Rotational Force 14, poses with a picture of his family at Mihail Kogalniceanu, Romania, Saturday. Bowers is this week’s Marine of the Week for dedication to his team members and his mental and physical strength. the day after her birthday, but she waited until June to tell me. She was worried about how I would react while I was still away training for deployment,” said Bowers. “She didn’t want me focusing on home. She wanted me focusing on what I was doing.” Sgt. Nicholas Zablonski, Bowers’ squad leader, said all of Bowers’ brothers in the ground combat element are there for him when he needs them. “I think it’s difficult for him, but at the same time, he knows he can talk to anyone in the platoon, and anybody will be willing to listen and give him the opportunity to talk to his mother,” said Zablonski. “At first I was really worried my mom wouldn’t overcome it, and I wouldn’t be able to see her, and then I came to realize when she got her biopsy, it got most of the cancer out. They put her on radiation treatments a few weeks ago, and she’s been doing really well with that, so she’s almost in the
clear,” said Bowers. Zablonski said through his mental and physical strength, Bowers has exceeded what is expected of him. “I think (he) did very well in out-performing his peers, (along with) being promoted to team leader. He’s one of the few lance corporal team leaders within the ground combat element,” said Zablonski. “It’s his ability to learn and adapt. His knowledge base has grown exponentially since he’s gotten into the platoon, and I think he’s done a very good job at using that knowledge to help him to get these higher billets.” Being mentally tough for your family shows a lot about your character, which in Bowers’ case, has reflected through his mission of helping promote regional stability and security, increasing military capacity and interoperability, and being the crisiscontingency force in the Eastern European region, with BSRF-14.
Refueling-at-sea Operations
Photo by Cpl. Manuel A. Estrada
The fleet replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (TAO 196) attaches fuel lines to the Multipurpose Amphibious Assault Ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), during a refueling-at-sea operation off the East Coast, Sunday. The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group took part in the Composite Training Unit Exercise in preparation for their scheduled 2014 deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility as a sea-based, expeditionary crisis response force capable of conducting amphibious missions across the full range of military operations.