Q&A: Ronnie Kinney the Marine Technician
- Elisa Reamer
- Nov 1, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 10, 2020
Ronnie Kinney,21, has been a jet technician in the marines for four of his five-year contract. After graduating in 2017 from Batavia High School, he knew that more schooling was not for him, so he decided to enlist in the military.
Dreamereamer Blog: What sparked your interest to join the marines? Did you consider any other branch in the military?
Kinney: School was never really something that I enjoyed the concept of, paying money for someone to read a textbook to you and then quiz you on something they read to you. So, I decided to enlist in the military, learn a valuable trade and progress myself in a career field that I can grow in. I originally was interested in joining The Navy, but I decided to enlist in the Marines because that’s what my dad did.
Q: What is the most rewarding part about being a marine?
A: The most rewarding thing about my life in Marines has been again, learning a valuable trade. When I get out, I’ll be able to work on multi-million dollar aircraft without a college degree because of the training and experience I’ll already have, which normally would require something closer to a bachelor’s degree to work on. I won’t have any college debt to worry about, but I’ll be in a very successful career field making $80,000+ Annually just starting out.
Q: What is the hardest part?
A: Honestly, the loneliness, it gets to you a lot. Being alone on a holiday, or seeing your friends and family celebrating it together takes a piece out of you.
Q: As a jet technician, what does a typical workday look for you?
A: Since I work on the Night Shift, I’ll be on my way to work at 1700 (5 pm) and will wait for Maintenance Control to tell us what jets we will be working on. We then will sign out the tools we need and head out to the aircraft to start Troubleshooting and try and narrow down the issue to something we can actually fix. After we’ve fixed the issue with the Jet we’ll head inside, sign in our tools and we’ll leave between 0400-0630 (4-6:30 am) because we don’t have a set “end of shift” time.
Q: Besides being a jet technician, what have you done?
A: I’m also certified as a “Brig Chaser,” which means I’m training to transport and handle marines who have been sent to the Brig (military prison). But other than that, Marines tend to stick to the job they’re taught.
Q: What are your plans once your five years of service are up?
A: I actually have a 5-year contract because of the amount of training that I had to go through, But I’ll probably join a Law Enforcement Agency or continue working on aircraft but for an airline company.
Q: Do you hope your kids follow in your path and join the marines?
A: If they decide to join, I’ll make sure they’re properly educated on the military, so they don’t have a recruiter lying to them just to make themselves look good. But it’s more of an “up to them” kind of situation.
Q: How do you feel your life would be different if you did not join the military?
A: I honestly can’t even picture my life outside of the marines and how I would have made it as far as I have without enlisting.
Q: What is your opinion on “military boy” stereotypes, how do you combat them?
A: That’s one of the Crappiest parts of being a marine, the moment a girl dates someone in the military it’s an instant “all military guys are like this” (normally In the negative aspect), but it’s really hard trying to find an actual relationship out here because everyone assumes that if you’re a marine, you must be only looking for something short term or are just playing games. But I just try and let a girl know from the beginning that I’m a good guy and MY JOB does not define me as a man.
Q: What is some advice you would give to someone wanting to enlist in the military?
A: Just be ready for the best and worst times of your life. You will hit your low and your peak while in the military.
Thanks for reading and thank you, Ronnie, for answering my questions,
Elisa Reamer
“The universe Loves you, My dear, That’s why You are Here.” -Use the Light, RH Fowler
Comments