Meet Sergeant Justin McLeod — 2013 Wounded Veteran
Sergeant Justin McLeod was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana he is the youngest of four children, with three older sisters. Justin spent most of my elementary and middle school years in Memphis, Tennessee, then moved to Tampa, Florida, where he attended high school. Shortly after graduating high school, he decided to join the Marine Corps. He completed all training and qualifications during boot camp at recruit training depot in Parris Island.
After boot camp, he attended infantry training in Jacksonville, North Carolina, for MOS 0311 infantryman. He was then assigned to his first infantry unit, 1st Battalion 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division, at Camp Lejeune, NC. Within seven months of arriving at the unit he was deployed to Iraq. While on deployment, he served as a rifleman in his squad and was also the radio operator for the majority of the deployment. Most of the deployment was in Hit, Iraq, but he also spent time in Ramadi, Iraq, to help the army with security and missions.
He returned from Iraq in June 2006, and spent the next few months training for a 2nd deployment to Iraq, during which time he served as a team leader. His unit trained the Iraqi police with security, as well as traveled to several different areas near the Syrian border.
He returned from his 2nd deployment in September 2007. While on deployment, he decided to stay in the Marine Corps and thus reenlisted for another four years. He requested to go to Quantico, Virginia, to TBS (the basic school) where he became a Combat Instructor, training officers in basic infantry tactics and real life scenarios. After spending two years in Quantico, he requested orders to 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, 1st Marine division, in Camp Pendleton, CA. Several months after arriving in Camp Pendleton, in January 2011, He deployed for the 3rd time.
During that deployment, he spent time in several countries, including Thailand, Japan, and Indonesia, training military personnel on basic tactics. On March 11th, his ship was on its way to Iwo Jima, when they were notified about the devastating tsunami that hit Japan. The unit was immediately redirected to help aid the tsunami victims in northern Japan. Upon arrival, his ship floated a few miles off the coast and helped transport food, water, and clothes to the tsunami victims for the next month.
Towards the end of the deployment, he decided to extend his time in the Marines, therefore volunteering to deploy to Afghanistan to become an advisor for the Afghan National Army.
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He returned from the 31st MEU in June 2011 and immediately started training to become an official advisor to the Afghan National Army for the first time in his Marine Corps career. He trained as an advisor for six months and then deployed for his 4th deployment in February 2012.
On his small Afghan patrol base near Sangin, located in the Helmand Province, was a company of 50 Afghan soldiers, along with Justin's team of three Marines including a Naval Corpsman; they were also partnered with the 5th Anglico team, which was based out of Okinawa, Japan. During deployment, a lot of time was spent training and patrolling with his Afghan counterparts. In addition, his team helped with medical evacuations for other Afghan Police patrol bases in the area.
Towards the end of his deployment, on May 28th, 2012, while conducting a joint operation with Afghan and Georgian soldiers, he lost a good friend and Marine, Sgt. Julian Chase in a firefight. During that firefight, they took heavy machine gunfire from several enemy positions, varying from 100 to 150 meters away. When Sgt. Chase was shot, Justin stepped away from cover to retrieve him to a secure location where they were able to fully conduct emergency medical assistance. When the evacuation vehicle arrived, Justin distracted the enemy so they could transport Sgt. Chase in order for him to receive a higher level of care. Sgt. Julian Chase died a hero and will never be forgotten.
Justin returned home in August 2012. Currently, he is with the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines waiting to execute orders to MCRD San Diego, working as training NCO for recruit training. His wife's name is Flavia Wright. They met while Justin was stationed in Quantico and got married on March 3rd, 2010. They have been married for two and one half years and are expecting their first child, in June 2013. Justin is interested in going to school after the Marine Corps.
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Jeff Anderson
CEO/Founder, Rebuilding Warriors
