A. Frank Arechiga
Sea & Embassy Duty
A. Frank Arechiga
Staff Sergeant, USMC, Ret.
1968–1972 & 1975–1991
Cpl. A. Frank Arechiga Reykjavik, Iceland, 1970
I don’t consider myself a civilian, I consider myself a Marine. I wear my U. S. Marine Corp Retired hat everywhere I go.
The recruiter said, “Frank, did you hear the rumor they hit you in boot camp? Those rumors are true.”
I went to Sea School right after 8-week boot camp. Served on the USS Bennington, Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II. Sea School was located at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot in San Diego. It was an intense month of classes, physical training, and shipboard firefighting and damage control.
From there, I went to the Marine Security Guard Battilion, commonly called Embassy School. Only 58 out of 120 graduated; it was in Quantico. I ended up on Embassy duty in Reykjavik, Iceland and Oslo, Norway. We provided security for the Embassy and especially the classified material and equipment vital to the national security of American diplomatic posts.
In 1972, I was assigned to the State Department in Brussels, providing security for a NATO conference. I had to guard the Secretary of State room when he wasn’t in it, to make sure no one came in who wasn’t supposed to be in there.
In 1972, my father passed away, and I had to leave the Corps to take care of Mother. As soon as I could, I rejoined. Unfortunately, I lost my rank, Sergeant, and started over as a Private First Class. It took two years to get promoted back.
From 1975-1980 I was back in the infantry. During Desert Storm I was the Assistant Battery Operations Chief for 3rd Bn, 11th Marines, an Artillery Unit.
Currently, I am a videographer filming Spurs games, shooting the wide shot from half way up the arena. I am also President and on the Board of Directors of the Elks Club and a member of the Marine Corp League in New Braunfels.
My best duty was Embassy Duty; you are attached to the Department of State.
The United States Marines is an elite organization; it’s the way we are raised in boot camp. {02-12-2013 • San Antonio, TX}