Article February 6, 2012 Issue

Danger has no place here

By Jennifer Johnson

Most people would consider recruiting duty a pretty easy job for a United States Marine. It keeps them home with their families for three consecutive years, which is much more than most other jobs in the Marines allow. My husband is a Marine recruiter out of Recruiting Station Seattle, and recently recruiting hasn’t been the easiest place to be.

In late June of last year, the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in Seattle was the target of a planned attack by two heavily armed men. They had grenades and M16 rifles and planned to kill all in uniform. Fortunately, a tip was given to the FBI, and they were able to arrest the suspects before their plan could be carried out. 

Because my husband, and any other recruiter in the area, goes to MEPS numerous times a month, I had a difficult time dealing with the news of this planned attack and was very concerned about the safety of my husband’s work. I thought that recruiting was supposed to be a more peaceful job than if he were deployed, yet it seemed that he and other recruiters might be in danger. Following the news of the planned attack, all recruiters and their offices began to take extra measures to help ensure safety. To me, that seemed as if they were preparing for the worst. It was a scary situation.