SFC Justin E. Locke
U.S. Army – Airborne Infantry
15th PSYOP BN S-3 Air NCOIC
13 years and counting….
U.S. Army – Airborne Infantry
15th PSYOP BN S-3 Air NCOIC
13 years and counting….
Justin was born at the Bay State Medical Center in Springfield Massachusetts in August 1992. His family lived in Enfield and Suffield, CT before settling in Somers, CT. His grandfather was a World War II veteran who was wounded in North Africa but never spoke about it with the family which was not uncommon for that generation. In high school Justin was considering a career as a forensic accountant but was unsure how to accomplish that and in his sophomore year he went to visit an Army recruiter. He took the ASVAB exam which helps identify which Military Occupations Specialties (MOS) a candidate is best suited for. Surprisingly forensic accounting was not identified for Justin. However, there was a poster of a soldier jumping out of the back of a C-130 and Justin said, “that’s what I want to do.” He signed his Airborne Infantry contract and after graduating from Somers High School, on July 13, 2011 Justin headed to Fort Benning in Georgia.
Justin was in-processed, issued his gear, and went through the medical process. He enjoyed basic training and the structure of the military. Being well organized helped smooth his transition. He liked being surrounded by people from all walks of life, learning about everyone’s background and he easily assimilated into his unit. 14 weeks later Justin’s family attended his graduation from basic training and from there he headed off to Airborne training. There he was exposed to more people from different backgrounds. During the second week of Airborne School the candidates jumped out of 34 foot towers. Week three was Jump Week. The day of the first jump, Justin recalls sitting around for long periods of time waiting for 10 jumpmasters to inspect the parachutes of the 400 jumpers.
The first jump was nerve-racking, but five jumps later he graduated from Airborne School. Justin went home to see his family for Thanksgiving and a 10 day period of R&R before reporting to his first assignment in Anchorage Alaska. Surprisingly, Alaska is one of the three posts for Airborne assignments. Justin started out as a Grenadier and then moved to Sawgunner, and then moved up to team leader. Initially Justin was asked if he would like to join a group that was ready to deploy. Justin jumped at the opportunity and began the workup, but just before the deployment he was told to stand down and he needed to go through additional training. There were several more delays that required additional training and it eventually became clear he would not be deploying, which disappointed him.
Although he did not deploy, Justin’s time in Anchorage had several once in a lifetime experiences. He jumped over the Artic Circle and did training there. His unit was part of the filming of a National Geographic program showing the capabilities of a C 130 operating in extreme conditions. He participated in Operation Cobra Gold where his unit flew 18 hours and jumped into Thailand to train with the Thai Special Forces. Acclimating to the change in temperature was an issue. Went they left Anchorage it was 30 degrees and when they hit the ground in Thailand it was 90+ degrees.
When a spot opened to become an Armorer Justin decided to take it. In this role he oversaw all the weapons and was responsible for writing the various policies, procedures and documentation covering all aspects of the weapons. He later became a team leader and then a squad leader. Toward the end of his four year contract Justin was focused on being promoted to Staff Sergeant. To continue to advance within the military Justin would need a college degree. He decided to move to the reserves and apply to college. The reserves do not have Airborne Infantry and Justin wanted to continue to jump. He looked for an MOS that would allow him to continue to jump and he found Psychological Operations. He applied to various undergraduate programs and chose to attend Ohio State University.
When Justin was discharged, he decided to take a month long road trip. He drove from Anchorage through Canada, entered the US through Montana, headed across to Minnesota, then down to Nashville and North Carolina, on to Columbus Ohio for Orientation and then home to Connecticut to see his family. During the trip Justin was able to reconnect with several buddies who had transitioned from the military. The trip partially fulfilled his dream of seeing all 50 states.
In August of 2015 Justin began his classes at Ohio State and began his career with the reserves. The reserves sent Justin to Germany for training with his psychological operations unit. The role of Psychological Operations is to persuade, change and influence a targeted audience thereby deceiving the enemy and or the civilian populace. He also went to the Netherlands to participate in Operation Market Garden which was an opportunity to jump with members of the military from other countries. He advanced from assistant team leader to team leader and then attended Jump Master School along with several other advanced training schools.
Fulfilling his requirements for the reserves required a bit of juggling with his college career that the average civilian would never encounter. Justin tried to be away during the summers while school wasn’t in session, but it didn’t always work out. Some professors were very accommodating, and some professors were not so helpful. In 2017 Justin took a year off from college because he was deployed to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa is the eastern most part of Africa and directly across the Bab al-Mandab Strait from Yemen. After checking into the main US base, a short time later he and another reservist were selected to go to Somalia. In Somalia they were working in an outpost assisting the Special Forces. “We were helping out the specialized guys that were down there. We were co-stationed with some SEALS and some MARSOC guys. We were a little out of our element, but it was a great time. You were very far away from the flagpole, and no one is worrying about you.”
“My role was to be a pay agent”. As a pay agent Justin was operating in plain cloths trying to blend into the local villages. He could have $30,000+ in cash in his pocket to make purchases from the local economy and show the American presence was positive. “We were 50 to 75 miles outside of Mogadishu. It was relatively dangerous. We had a translator with us and we had to buy specialized parts that the Seabees needed….”. After 6 months in Somalia Justin headed to Uganda to teach a psyops course. Justin was teaching a college level psychology course but found some free time to see some of the local sites including the Nile River.
Justin returned to Ohio State from Somalia and the transition was a somewhat difficult. Justin was 3 to 7 years older than the average college student and had experienced things they could never comprehend. Some students that had just completed their semesters studying abroad. Justin had just spent the last 12 months abroad with distinctively different learning and cultural experiences. “It’s not really comparable. Getting shot at, or wine and dining in Rome.”
Jumping became a bigger part of his military career and Justin broke off to become the subject matter expert on jumping. The Battalion Commander asked Justin to move into a position where he would have oversight of three jump companies. Two of the companies had not been jumping and Justin was told to get them all jumping again. He set about creating policies and procedures and documentation on all aspects of an Airborne company. Soon all three companies were jumping again.
Back at Ohio State Justin had several internships including the role of Operations Manager for the university club hockey team including handling all their social media. He also worked in the university gym as an operations manager including managing the inventory system. Justin again had to juggle his reserve requirements with his academic requirements. In 2020 Justin graduated from Ohio State with a major in marketing and a minor in communications. He graduated in the midst of COVID-19 and watched his graduation ceremony on television.
When he graduated, he didn’t have any immediate job prospects, so he spent his time fulfilling his reservist requirements. In March of 2021 he applied to the National Veterans Memorial and Museum for the position of marketing associate. He was hired and was happy to be back in an environment where he could reconnect with people with military backgrounds. After 6 months he was asked to apply for a new position in a business development role that started with improving the operations of the museum Gift Shop. That role developed further into working with veteran entrepreneurs and launching an online marketplace. He is enjoying working with veterans, helping them find their next mission in life and bridging the transition from the military to civilian life. With an entire career in front of him Justin is likely to have a big impact on the lives of veterans.
Justin, we all very much appreciate your service to our country and your new role helping veteran entrepreneurs. We all owe you a debt of gratitude for taking your semester of ‘study abroad’ in Somalia. I couldn’t find that option on the Ohio State web site!
Justin was in-processed, issued his gear, and went through the medical process. He enjoyed basic training and the structure of the military. Being well organized helped smooth his transition. He liked being surrounded by people from all walks of life, learning about everyone’s background and he easily assimilated into his unit. 14 weeks later Justin’s family attended his graduation from basic training and from there he headed off to Airborne training. There he was exposed to more people from different backgrounds. During the second week of Airborne School the candidates jumped out of 34 foot towers. Week three was Jump Week. The day of the first jump, Justin recalls sitting around for long periods of time waiting for 10 jumpmasters to inspect the parachutes of the 400 jumpers.
The first jump was nerve-racking, but five jumps later he graduated from Airborne School. Justin went home to see his family for Thanksgiving and a 10 day period of R&R before reporting to his first assignment in Anchorage Alaska. Surprisingly, Alaska is one of the three posts for Airborne assignments. Justin started out as a Grenadier and then moved to Sawgunner, and then moved up to team leader. Initially Justin was asked if he would like to join a group that was ready to deploy. Justin jumped at the opportunity and began the workup, but just before the deployment he was told to stand down and he needed to go through additional training. There were several more delays that required additional training and it eventually became clear he would not be deploying, which disappointed him.
Although he did not deploy, Justin’s time in Anchorage had several once in a lifetime experiences. He jumped over the Artic Circle and did training there. His unit was part of the filming of a National Geographic program showing the capabilities of a C 130 operating in extreme conditions. He participated in Operation Cobra Gold where his unit flew 18 hours and jumped into Thailand to train with the Thai Special Forces. Acclimating to the change in temperature was an issue. Went they left Anchorage it was 30 degrees and when they hit the ground in Thailand it was 90+ degrees.
When a spot opened to become an Armorer Justin decided to take it. In this role he oversaw all the weapons and was responsible for writing the various policies, procedures and documentation covering all aspects of the weapons. He later became a team leader and then a squad leader. Toward the end of his four year contract Justin was focused on being promoted to Staff Sergeant. To continue to advance within the military Justin would need a college degree. He decided to move to the reserves and apply to college. The reserves do not have Airborne Infantry and Justin wanted to continue to jump. He looked for an MOS that would allow him to continue to jump and he found Psychological Operations. He applied to various undergraduate programs and chose to attend Ohio State University.
When Justin was discharged, he decided to take a month long road trip. He drove from Anchorage through Canada, entered the US through Montana, headed across to Minnesota, then down to Nashville and North Carolina, on to Columbus Ohio for Orientation and then home to Connecticut to see his family. During the trip Justin was able to reconnect with several buddies who had transitioned from the military. The trip partially fulfilled his dream of seeing all 50 states.
In August of 2015 Justin began his classes at Ohio State and began his career with the reserves. The reserves sent Justin to Germany for training with his psychological operations unit. The role of Psychological Operations is to persuade, change and influence a targeted audience thereby deceiving the enemy and or the civilian populace. He also went to the Netherlands to participate in Operation Market Garden which was an opportunity to jump with members of the military from other countries. He advanced from assistant team leader to team leader and then attended Jump Master School along with several other advanced training schools.
Fulfilling his requirements for the reserves required a bit of juggling with his college career that the average civilian would never encounter. Justin tried to be away during the summers while school wasn’t in session, but it didn’t always work out. Some professors were very accommodating, and some professors were not so helpful. In 2017 Justin took a year off from college because he was deployed to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa is the eastern most part of Africa and directly across the Bab al-Mandab Strait from Yemen. After checking into the main US base, a short time later he and another reservist were selected to go to Somalia. In Somalia they were working in an outpost assisting the Special Forces. “We were helping out the specialized guys that were down there. We were co-stationed with some SEALS and some MARSOC guys. We were a little out of our element, but it was a great time. You were very far away from the flagpole, and no one is worrying about you.”
“My role was to be a pay agent”. As a pay agent Justin was operating in plain cloths trying to blend into the local villages. He could have $30,000+ in cash in his pocket to make purchases from the local economy and show the American presence was positive. “We were 50 to 75 miles outside of Mogadishu. It was relatively dangerous. We had a translator with us and we had to buy specialized parts that the Seabees needed….”. After 6 months in Somalia Justin headed to Uganda to teach a psyops course. Justin was teaching a college level psychology course but found some free time to see some of the local sites including the Nile River.
Justin returned to Ohio State from Somalia and the transition was a somewhat difficult. Justin was 3 to 7 years older than the average college student and had experienced things they could never comprehend. Some students that had just completed their semesters studying abroad. Justin had just spent the last 12 months abroad with distinctively different learning and cultural experiences. “It’s not really comparable. Getting shot at, or wine and dining in Rome.”
Jumping became a bigger part of his military career and Justin broke off to become the subject matter expert on jumping. The Battalion Commander asked Justin to move into a position where he would have oversight of three jump companies. Two of the companies had not been jumping and Justin was told to get them all jumping again. He set about creating policies and procedures and documentation on all aspects of an Airborne company. Soon all three companies were jumping again.
Back at Ohio State Justin had several internships including the role of Operations Manager for the university club hockey team including handling all their social media. He also worked in the university gym as an operations manager including managing the inventory system. Justin again had to juggle his reserve requirements with his academic requirements. In 2020 Justin graduated from Ohio State with a major in marketing and a minor in communications. He graduated in the midst of COVID-19 and watched his graduation ceremony on television.
When he graduated, he didn’t have any immediate job prospects, so he spent his time fulfilling his reservist requirements. In March of 2021 he applied to the National Veterans Memorial and Museum for the position of marketing associate. He was hired and was happy to be back in an environment where he could reconnect with people with military backgrounds. After 6 months he was asked to apply for a new position in a business development role that started with improving the operations of the museum Gift Shop. That role developed further into working with veteran entrepreneurs and launching an online marketplace. He is enjoying working with veterans, helping them find their next mission in life and bridging the transition from the military to civilian life. With an entire career in front of him Justin is likely to have a big impact on the lives of veterans.
Justin, we all very much appreciate your service to our country and your new role helping veteran entrepreneurs. We all owe you a debt of gratitude for taking your semester of ‘study abroad’ in Somalia. I couldn’t find that option on the Ohio State web site!