On the United States Marine Corps’ 250th birthday, GTRI’s research community gathered around a different kind of formation: an episode of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast led by host Mike Curtis, a GTRI researcher and a USMC veteran.

This episode features Marines across specialties and theaters. It is essentially an oral history of the birthday traditions that bind, the deployments that harden, and the leadership habits that endure long after the uniform is hung up.

The conversation opens where Marines’ memories often begin: at the Birthday Ball.

Retired Lt. Col. Robert Pritchard (F/A-18 backseater; now a research engineer in ACL’s Analytics & Wargaming branch) explains why Nov. 10 isn’t just a date on a calendar but a rite that re-anchors identity each year. 

The reading of the Commandant’s birthday message, the cake ceremony, and the passing of a slice from the oldest Marine to the youngest form a tangible chain of custody for the Corps’ ethos.

Courtney Daniels, a Research Security Specialist in GTRI's Research Security unit, served as an intelligence analyst and infantryman, paints the scene: a guest speaker from an earlier generation, the hush before the cake-cutting, and the unmistakable pride when the oldest Marine passes a piece to the youngest. 

This represents the enduring lineage between old and new that we, in more ways than one, carry forward.

That mix of solemnity and camaraderie travels well. Patrick Clark, a Research Associate in Research Security, recalls singing Marine hymns on a bus to a ferry at Guantánamo Bay in 1997, the entire unit led by a retired master gunnery sergeant’s message on leadership and team cohesion.

The guests trace deployments that clarified what the Marine Corps demands and why it works. Daniels’ two Afghanistan tours, Garmsir (2008) and Marjah (2009–10), delivered what he calls the hardest ordeal of his young life. In the harshest conditions, he saw Marines run toward danger to save others.

For Kyle Blond, now a Senior Research Engineer in the ELSYS lab and a Marine reservist, a Pacific float with the 31st MEU stripped away Hollywood myths and showcased the real craft: expectation management, logistics friction, and steady leadership under uncertainty.

Blond also offers a poignant point of truth about the bonds the Corps forges. He spoke emotionally of a friend from The Basic School who later became godfather to his daughter. He also spoke of the challenges in his career that have been taxing enough to make him into a "grumpy major," he jokes. He then added that parenthood humbled him even more.

Other Marines who were guests during this episode also reiterated how humor often pulled them through tough experiences and continues to have a warm, welcome place in their memories.

GTRI Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Eric Scott recounted an episode in his career that was both humorous and challenging. He remembered field-day cleaning in a makeshift server yard and accidentally unplugging the router that carried comms for the entire base. The lesson outlived the embarrassment: in complex systems, attention to detail is leadership.

The guests also talk about how Marine habits translate directly to applied research. Pritchard describes promoting a Marine Reserve officer in a GTRI room full of engineers and scientists. He calls it a moment that clarified shared values: standards, accountability, and service to the warfighter.

Daniels frames it in operational terms GTRI knows well: disciplined “hot washes” after-action reviews that become institutional learning; small-unit tactics that map neatly to agile research teams; and deliberate cross-training so people can know the job of the person above you to keep the mission moving when roles shift.

Clark adds the organizational dividend: formal, values-centric rituals foster pride, reduce attrition, and help teams see leaders up close.

Terence Sterba, a Senior Research Technologist in SEAL, recounts an anecdote that makes the point "it isn't as bad as you might think."

"I only did one deployment. In a sense, it was kind of funny, because I was finishing up supply school, and our instructor was telling everybody out of the class that we had one special person who got to go to an isolated area. He read off all the deployments for all the other people. Some people went to Okinawa, some people went to Hawaii. Some people went to Pendleton, Bajoon, and, unfortunately, I got to go to Guantanamo Bay.

I thought it was going to be worse than it was, but it was great. It was isolated, but it was beautiful. Never had to worry about the weather."

Kirk Blehm, a Research Security Coordinator in Research Security, grew up in a Marine family. He says he maintains a key element of his Marine Corps experience throughout his life: the no-fail mission mindset that is imbued into every Marine. 

“In the Marine Corps, there is no second best. In communications, you don’t sleep until comms are up.

"You have to do what needs to be done because there's other people counting on you--and I don't think a lot of civilians have that same mindset."

Scott’s advice to transitioning Marines is disarmingly candid: put your health first: physical, mental, and spiritual. He says that dawned on him after years of being trained to put self last. And don’t undersell what you bring. The Corps’ everyday virtues: punctuality, follow-through, and comfort with hard tasks are uncommon and invaluable on civilian teams.

Rupert Simon, now a Senior Manager in Research Security, keeps faith with the Corps’ birthday message each year. He sums up the shared emotion at Parris Island graduations as a source of pride.

That pride, he suggests, is something Marines bring to labs, secure environments, and field work at GTRI: shoulders square, standards high, and the mission squarely in view.

“Semper Fidelis” and happy 250th birthday to the United States Marine Corps.

This episode is available for listening. Outside of GTRI, you and others are encouraged to follow the Georgia Tech Research Podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Writer: Christopher Weems
GTRI Communications
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Georgia

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Founded in 1934 as the Engineering Experiment Station, GTRI has grown to more than 3,000 employees, supporting eight laboratories in over 20 locations around the country and performing more than $919 million of problem-solving research annually for government and industry. GTRI's renowned researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex problems for the U.S. federal government, state, and industry.