Military and Civilian Life of Steve Martin
Additional Information
Military Service: My peace-time Marine Corps service in the 1960's was quite an adventure for a young man from a small town in northern Kentucky. I joined the Corps in May of 1961, just after my 18th birthday. After getting initiated at Parris Island and infantry training at Camp Lejeune, I was sent to the Marine Corps Schools at the San Diego Recruit Depot where I was trained to be a radar repairman. The equipment that I worked on for the rest of my time on active duty was an experimental ground-based radar that was designed to guide aircraft, primarily A-6's, on bombing runs. My first duty station was with the Second Marine Air Wing at Cherry Point, NC. During this period I had the good fortune to get a boat trip to the waters off Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis with a brief stop in Puerto Rico. From Cherry Point I flew to the west coast and was then sent via ship to the First Marine Air Wing base at Futenma, Okinawa where I spent just over a year. During this time overseas I happened to make a side trip by LST to Taiwan. My next assignment was back to Cherry Point for the remainder of my active enlistment. I was released from active duty in May of 1965, and, after two years in the Inactive Reserves, I received my Honorable Discharge in 1967.
Civilian Life: After the Marine Corps released me from active duty in 1965 I held various jobs while picking up college credits, first at Florida Sourthern College in Lakeland, then at the local junior and community colleges. I worked as a clerk for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, later the Seaboard Coastline Railroad, in Lakeland and Tampa until I resigned in 1969 and moved to Gainesville to attend the University of Florida where I graduated in December of 1972 with a Bachelor of Science in Education.
From January 1973 to April 1998 I lived for a short time in Tampa then moved to Lakeland while I worked for CF Industries, Inc., a chemical fertilizer manufacturer, located near Bartow. I held various positions in the Engineering Department. I worked for the final 20 years as Supervisor of Environmental Monitoring, in a position overseeing air and water monitoring for management studies and regulatory agency reporting.
I retired in 1998 upon reaching 55 years of age. In August of 2001 my wife and I sold our property in Lakeland and moved to Anderson, SC to be closer to our daughter and her family. My retirement activities include reading and lawn maintenance. I have served as an officer in the local Marine Corps League veterans organization since August 2004, and have been a member of the Vets Helping Vets Anderson veterans organization since 2017.
