sweet owen + service
Introducing. . .
Cmdr. Jean Clark Editor’s Note: This featured story is the first of a two-part series honoring the service of two Owen County veterans—Jean and Joel “Joe” Clark. Their stories represent the many veterans in our community that have dedicated their lives to serving our country. BY MARLENE BROWNING-WAINSCOTT
Before Joe and Jean Clark made Owen County their home in 2004, the couple dedicated their lives to serving their country. Jean was a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, and after 34 years of service, retired with the rank of commander. Joe was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. After 22 years of service (which included Marine detachment aboard the USS Yorktown and combat operations with the 1st Recon Battalion in Vietnam), Joe retired with the rank of first sergeant. Joining the Coast Guard Jean Clark had little exposure to the military growing up; however, this all changed when she joined the Coast Guard Reserve in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1972. “I first went into the Coast Guard Reserve. I was a single mom and could use the extra money,” she reflected. “I found that I enjoyed it, and it offered many opportunities.” Jean’s early military career took her to many places across the United States, including Governors Island, New York, Portsmouth, Virginia, St. Louis, and Alameda, California, where she performed personnel support duties. “During these assignments, I fell in love with the Coast Guard and decided to become involved in active duty and was assigned to the
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Training Center in Alameda where I was involved with training reservists and assigned to the Health Services Division.” The journey from E1 to commander: Jean Clark’s career in the Coast Guard spanned more than 34 years and included active and reserve service. She began as enlisted (E1) and retired as commander. During her long career in the Coast Guard, she performed many duties. When she became a commissioned officer, her assignments were focused on logistics which included force optimization, training and support, budget procurement, health services, housing, and family support. “At that time, Desert Shield/Desert Storm was brewing, and I was recalled to active duty at the 11th Coast Guard District in Long Beach, California,” she said. “Because of my logistics background, I was put in charge of the division responsible for activating and deploying our port security units for service in the looming Gulf War. We were sending many personnel who had never been on active duty to a war zone and leaving families who had no understanding of how to function in a military environment behind. It was a high-stress, challenging position, but one of the most rewarding I have experienced.
“As this assignment wound down, I was approached to remain on active duty through the Reserve Program Administrator program and happily applied. My assignments included Coast Guard Headquarters, Washington, D.C. from 1992 to 1997, where I managed the overall Coast Guard Reserve’s multi-million-dollar budget. In 1997 I was transferred to Integrated Support Center St. Louis, where I was the Chief Optimization and Training Officer, managing logistics for units throughout the northern area of the 8th Coast Guard District. In 2001, I was selected for the position of Executive Officer in the Integrated Support Center, Cleveland, Ohio.” Jean Clark retired from the Coast Guard in 2006. “Joe and I had decided we wanted to retire and build a log home in Kentucky, and I was fortunate to get assigned to the Chief of Auxiliary services in Louisville in 2004, once again managing logistics for a terrific force multiplier for the Coast Guard. Joe and I settled in the beautiful hills of Owen County where I substitute taught for a number of years, and he worked as a rural carrier substitute at the post office.” On being a military family When Jean joined the Coast Guard, she did not know that the military
