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thedrifter
01-16-06, 08:34 AM
Lejeune sailor follows prescription for success
January 16,2006
BY CHRIS MAZZOLINI
DAILY NEWS STAFF

By all accounts, Petty Officer 1st Class Demeak Williams had a great November.

At the beginning of the month, the 30-year-old sailor was a petty officer 2nd class. By the end, he not only had a promotion, but he also qualified to become a naval officer and go to school to become a pharmacist - one of only two sailors in the entire Navy to get accepted to that program.

Suffice it to say, Williams is flying high right now.

"I'm riding this cloud," he said with a smile, adding that when he found out about getting accepted to pharmacy school, "I was shaking so bad I had to walk out of the place. I was counting something at the time, so I had to leave."

Williams, a sailor for eight years who hails from Pinehurst, is as hard-charging as they come, a self-described "sea warrior" who craves information and wants to excel in everything he does. He's worked in hospitals, but he's also served on the Green Side, deploying to Kosovo with the 24th MEU in 2001.

In fact, that's where he decided he wanted to be a pharmacist.

"We were handing out medication in town," he said. "I had this table with all these drugs. I was like, 'You know what? I can do this.' I said, 'When I get back, I want to go to pharmacy school.' "

So he trained with the Navy to be a pharmacy technician. Since then, he's been working at the Naval Hospital. In August he starts at Campbell University's School of Pharmacy. It's a six-year program that will see him not only get an advanced degree, but also commissioned as a lieutenant.

Williams said Pharmacy appeals to him because of the ability to help so many people.

"(I like) the fact that I can help a lot of people on a wide scale," he said. "People say life's about doing good deeds. I'm full of good deeds."

And knowledge. Williams said he gets involved in every program, training and educational opportunity he can find. He's competed in battle skills competitions aboard the base. While aboard ship, he studied and earned his surface warfare and air warfare devices.

"I studied so much that I could see the pages when I closed my eyes at night," he said. "I like getting smarter. When someone asks a question, I want to know the answer. If they offer something, I go after it. I just want to build myself and build myself."

Williams said the drive has always been with him. It's also part of being a sailor.

"I say to myself, 'We got guys in Iraq,' " he said. "Just because we're in the rear doesn't mean it's time to sit down and relax. I act like I'm on float. I'm on float right now. I'm a sailor 24/7."

Contact staff writer Chris Mazzolini at cmazzolini@freedomenc.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 229.

Ellie