Salute to veterans — Jackson's Capps on 'life skills' acquired from military service

Jackson's Amber Capps, 25, is a wife, mother of two and a full-time Southeast Missouri State University interior design student with her own photography business.

She also spent four years on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps plus another year in the reserve, serving stateside as a radio operator and rising by the end of her tenure to the rank of sergeant.

Capps, a Chicago native, is bullish on her time in the Corps.

"Any branch (of military service) is going to give you life skills. I feel kids now don't really know how to talk to people. The service forces you out of your comfort zone (and) you get comfortable with being uncomfortable," said Capps, who was part of USMC's Combat Logistics Regiment (CLR-25) and did the majority of her time in the Marines at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.

Capps did boot camp where so many new Marines get started — Parris Island, South Carolina.

"I turned 18 my third day of boot," Capps said, noting she needed her parents' permission to join up in August 2015.

"I had my father's consent, who did six years in the (U.S.) Air Force, but not my mother's, but (Mom) signed the papers anyway," she noted, adding none of her five brothers went into the miiitary.

"Now (Mom) is so proud of me. She wasn't on board at the time but when it was time for me to graduate, she got the family matching T-shirts with my name on it," Capps continued.

After finishing boot camp, Capps did combat training at Camp Geiger in North Carolina and attended jobs school at Twentynine Palms Base in California before receiving her billet at Camp LeJeune.

"It's a funny story, actually. I went to the Marine Corps (recruiting) office and told them I wanted to be a corpsman (and) corpsmen are Navy but typically travel with Marines. They looked at me and said, 'Boy, do we have a job for you,'" she recalled — and her journey into the USMC was set.

"I believe in God and I believe that He was pointing me all along and when I finally called my recruiter, she took me under her wing for at least a year, and I spent almost every day with her," noting the female recruiter, like Capps herself, is Black.

Jackson's Amber Capps is seen in her U.S. Marine Corps uniform. Capps, a radio operator, spent four years on active duty and another in the Marine Corp Reserve.Courtesy of Amber Capps

Lasting benefits

Capps identified "resiliency, the ability to bounce back," as a primary benefit for her from her military service.

"While I was on active duty, you have a lot of minor inconveniences. You have no choice but to roll with the punches and do what you have to do. Resiliency, yes, and patience, too. Let's say you have a hike at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning. You have to be there at 3 a.m. to get your rifle and your packs ready. There's a lot of waiting involved. Today if I'm looking forward to something or waiting for something to happen, I don't stress over it. I'd have to credit (the Marines) for putting me under so much stress that now I don't see situations as stressful the way other people do," said Capps.

"At 18, you're a kid. You don't have the same life experiences as another 18-year-old. You don't realize when you're in the military, you're forced to grow up and I love that," she added, noting she would recommend military service "over and over again" to other young women.

Amber Capps is seen with her family at Beggs Family Farm in Scott County. From left are Capps, daughter Madison, husband John and daughter Bailey.Courtesy of Amber Capps

Family

Capps met her husband, John, a Bell City, Missouri, native, in the Marines. The couple has two daughters, Madison, 3, and Bailey, 18 months.

When Capps decided to muster out of the service, her growing family unit helped make the decision easier.

"I did have plans to reenlist but was pregnant with my first daughter at the time. I didn't want my daughter living a life where we were constantly moving and traveling if I'd stayed active duty. I don't think I'd be who I am today without my military experience," she said.