MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. -- Thousands of recruits pass through the squad bays of Parris Island each year, and once they receive the coveted Eagle, Globe and Anchor, most leave and never look back. Some vow to never return to the island where they endured three months of mental and physical anguish to earn the title of Marine.
But for some, the tie to the Depot is intenseley strong, and they hope to someday walk back down the freshly-mopped isles of where it all began.
Upon graduation from high school, 1st Lt. Ty Kopke planned to go to school, get his degree and begin his life, but things did not exactly go as planned.
The Walled Lake, Mich., native was paying for school out of his own pockets, and after a year of pinching pennies, he could no longer afford it. This led him to make a decision that would eventually land him in Mike Co., 3rd RTBn. He decided to enlist in the Marine Corps and figured he could go in, get the G.I. Bill, see what he could accomplish during one enlistment, and then he would get out and finish his degree.
But Kopke said that he had experienced so many new things and met so many great Marines that he decided to enlist again. As he neared the end of his second tour, his officer-in-charge and Staff NCOs encouraged him to submit an officer package through the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Program. He did so and was selected on the first try. It marked the beginning of a new opportunity that would eventually lead him back to a position aboard the Depot, but not just any ordinary position.
"I was on deployment in Iraq about a year ago when I requested to come here to serve a tour on the drill field as a series commander," said Kopke. "I received orders and I only hoped I'd be back with 3rd Bn.. When I checked in, that's where they said I was headed."
Though he was quite satisfied with where he would be going, he was even more thrilled about what they told him next.
"After they said 3rd Bn., I asked them what company I would be in and they told me Mike Company, follow series, which is the same series I was in," he said. "I was absolutely surprised and elated."
Kopke just picked up with his old company a little more than two weeks ago and has had little time for anything else, but one thing he had to make time for was a visit back to his old squadbay.
"It was a little spooky going back up there for the first time," he said. " I went up to the squad bay with my wife and we walked around a little bit and I just smiled. I have a lot of memories with Mike Company ... it was a life changing experience. I remember standing at the position of attention in front of my rack, listening to my drill instructors bark orders, teaching us to be Marines. Now I have the opportunity to watch that same process from a different perspective."
Now he is back as an officer, which will allow him to lead a new batch of Marines with his unmistakable Mike Co. pride.
"He has a very unique perspective," said Capt. James Cole, commanding officer, Mike Co. "Because he is prior enlisted, he has that much more of an insight into what it is like being a recruit."
Cole has also noticed a special sense of belonging in Kopke, who went through recruit training nearly 11 years ago.
"He would have done well with any company within the Recruit Training Regiment, but here, he has a sense of being back home," said Cole. "I think he has a little more pride."
Captain Walt Messick, lead series commander, Mike Co., 3rd RTBn., also sees the Mike Co. pride Kopke carries with him and believes he sets a great example for his recruits to follow.
"Because he is former enlisted, he can look a recruit right in the eye and say he has been through everything they have ... it sets a positive example that they will be able to look at during their training," said Messick.
Kopke noted that a lot of things have changed aboard the Depot since he was last here, but said Mike Co. is still the same for the most part - the place where it all began for him.
"I came back with an open mind," said Kopke. "I wanted to come back as an officer and work with quality enlisted Marines ... the finest NCOs and staff NCOs that the Marine Corps has to offer, and I've got that here. I couldn't be happier."