Anthem couple admire Marine son’s dedication to dream

YVONNE DOLBY ~ SPECIAL FOR THE FOOTHILLS FOCUS ~8/24/2011

When the Anthem Veterans Memorial is dedicated on November 11, 2011, side-by-side pavers will commemorate the military service of Airman First Class Michael Rothman and his son, Captain Jarrod Rothman, USMC. Michael Rothman served in the Air Force from 1961-1964 maintaining aircraft engines, but he downplays his own military experience. It’s sharing the story of his son’s service that brings him pride.
Jarrod Rothman knew he wanted to be in the military from a young age. Growing up, his dad Michael worked for a defense contractor requiring moves to England, Spain and Germany where Jarrod and his family were always close to the military.
Jarrod’s mom, Ginger Rothman, recalls him playing with his GI Joes (which had to be pulled from the trees with each move) and fighting imaginary battles as a kid. If the family was out for a round of golf, Jarrod would be hanging from the cart engaged in combat. And when the Rothmans lived in Virginia Beach, Jarrod wore a Marine hat and followed a neighbor who was an officer in the Marine Corps.
Jarrod’s fascination with the military didn’t diminish as he got older. By the time he was in junior high school, he was certain about his future. As a freshman in high school, he was attending military recruitment meetings intended for juniors and seniors. His high school wrestling accomplishments attracted recruiters from the Naval Academy, and Jarrod earned an Annapolis appointment, fulfilling his parents’ wish for him to get a college education and satisfying his military ambition.
Jarrod graduated from the Naval Academy in May 2005 and decided to go into the Marine Corps.  He spent the next nine months in Quantico, Va. for Marine officer training, choosing infantry as his specialty. By the following year, at 24 years old, he led a platoon deployed to Iraq. His platoon was stationed near the border with Syria, and helped to establish security and rebuild infrastructure destroyed by insurgent attacks.
After receiving additional training in California, Jarrod was deployed to Iraq a second time.  Following this tour, he found himself on the USS Peleliu with a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), ready for rapid response to any crisis. His shipboard travels included goodwill stops in East Timor and Darwin, Australia as well as a nighttime navigation of the narrow and hazardous Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia.
During a stop in the small East African country of Djibouti in August 2010, the MEU received orders to assist with relief efforts in the northern regions of Pakistan being ravaged by monsoon rains and flooding. Jarrod explains in an email to his family, “Within 12 hours of getting the embark order, we moved over 100 personnel and the small helicopter detachment that we had ashore back to the ship. By midnight that same night, we were steaming toward the coast of Pakistan.”
For a Marine, orders to move are no surprise, and it’s no surprise for this Marine to take the Marine motto – Semper Fidelis, “Always Faithful,” to heart. By December 2010, Jarrod was back at Camp Pendleton, Calif. via the United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Thailand, Guam and Hawaii. He was reassigned to Okinawa, Japan a few months later, and in May 2011, Jarrod was deployed for a fourth time to a forward patrol base in Helmand Province, Afghanistan where he will be until December. He serves as the Battalion’s Assistant Operations Officer. Among his duties, he acts as an advisor to the Afghan National Army and plans future operations.
Ginger says of her son’s frequent deployments, “It has a lot to do with the way Jarrod has maneuvered his career. He wants to be where the action is. He has so much self confidence and great leadership skills.”
Captain Jarrod Rothman’s paver in the Circle of Honor at the Anthem Veterans Memorial will be inscribed with the year he graduated from the Naval Academy and became a Second Lieutenant. As for how long he will stay in the Marines, that is still an unknown. His paver, like those of others still on active duty, will not have an ending date. He tells his parents he will continue in the Marines until he stops enjoying it. Meanwhile, Anthem couple and proud parents faithfully collect newsletters, emails, pictures and notes from phone conversations with Jarrod, all documenting his dedicated service.
This is one of a series of articles about servicemen and women and their families leading up to the dedication of the Anthem Veterans Memorial on Nov. 11, 2011.  To learn more about the Veterans Memorial, go to OnlineAtAnthem.com and click on the Veterans Memorial link.