thedrifter
07-29-06, 06:29 AM
Phoenix Marine has the write stuff
Relishes duty as combat journalist
Charles Kelly
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 28, 2006 12:00 AM
Jonathan Teslevich of Phoenix always enjoyed the adrenaline rush of edgy activities: riding mountain bikes and jet skis, taking risky hikes, racing all-terrain vehicles in the desert, traveling in out-of-the-way places.
Now, as a combat correspondent with Marine Aircraft Group 16, Teslevich, 25, regularly feels the rush. He's trained with the Thai Marine Corps in Pattaya, Thailand, escorted media around tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka and flown dangerous air missions in Iraq, where he currently is based in Al Asad.
Teslevich, who graduated from Brophy College Preparatory in 1999 and studied marketing at the University of Arizona for three years, said snapping photos and writing copy for the Marines from some of the world's hot spots suits him just fine.
"It fits the job description as I understood it when I joined," Teslevich said. "But really it's been so much more, in terms of where it's taken me as a Marine. Places I never would have imagined, seeing things I never would have thought could occur."
His favorite assignment in Iraq was flying a mission on a Vietnam-era "Huey" helicopter escorting a convoy through Karma, Iraq, this spring.
"It's a real hot area, and we were flying anywhere from thousands of feet in the air - kind of an overhead perspective - looking for potential threats to the convoy traveling through that town, to very low, to check out specific threats," he said.
Teslevich files to the Marine Corps Web site USMC.mil. His stories and photos then get picked up by various military publications, including Stars and Stripes, as well as civilian publications.
Teslevich has also served in Japan with the Third Marine Logistics Group and the Fourth Marine Regiment, acting as an enemy soldier during training exercises as well as writing stories about the exercises.
And he was in Sri Lanka five days after the tsunami hit on Dec. 26, 2004.
He wound up acting as a media liaison for dozens of high-profile TV and newspaper reporters, lining up interviews with Marines and sailors involved in the relief effort, arranging transport for reporters, answering hundreds of phone calls and e-mails.
"I didn't sleep a whole lot," he said. "Working those 18-hour days, making it all happen for the various media crews."
Teslevich said the payoff sometimes came after he'd arranged to get a camera crew to a remote spot via helicopter, the only way they could get in.
"And they came back saying, 'That's the best video footage I ever shot in my life,' " he recalled. "To hear that, and to have them buy me a beer when we get back to the hotel, tired as hell, that's a good feeling."
After his service in Sri Lanka, Teslevich was sent to the Maldives, also hit by the tsunami. He assessed damage and helped coordinate relief that involved supplementing water supplies and providing water-purification equipment.
Teslevich said his experiences in the aftermath of the tsunami, and doing community relations at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif., have directed him toward a new career goal.
He's going to leave the Marine Corps next spring and study public relations at Arizona State University. Before he starts school in August, though, he's going to travel around Europe for 2½ months.
He hasn't got his fill of exotic places. Not yet.
Ellie
Relishes duty as combat journalist
Charles Kelly
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 28, 2006 12:00 AM
Jonathan Teslevich of Phoenix always enjoyed the adrenaline rush of edgy activities: riding mountain bikes and jet skis, taking risky hikes, racing all-terrain vehicles in the desert, traveling in out-of-the-way places.
Now, as a combat correspondent with Marine Aircraft Group 16, Teslevich, 25, regularly feels the rush. He's trained with the Thai Marine Corps in Pattaya, Thailand, escorted media around tsunami-ravaged Sri Lanka and flown dangerous air missions in Iraq, where he currently is based in Al Asad.
Teslevich, who graduated from Brophy College Preparatory in 1999 and studied marketing at the University of Arizona for three years, said snapping photos and writing copy for the Marines from some of the world's hot spots suits him just fine.
"It fits the job description as I understood it when I joined," Teslevich said. "But really it's been so much more, in terms of where it's taken me as a Marine. Places I never would have imagined, seeing things I never would have thought could occur."
His favorite assignment in Iraq was flying a mission on a Vietnam-era "Huey" helicopter escorting a convoy through Karma, Iraq, this spring.
"It's a real hot area, and we were flying anywhere from thousands of feet in the air - kind of an overhead perspective - looking for potential threats to the convoy traveling through that town, to very low, to check out specific threats," he said.
Teslevich files to the Marine Corps Web site USMC.mil. His stories and photos then get picked up by various military publications, including Stars and Stripes, as well as civilian publications.
Teslevich has also served in Japan with the Third Marine Logistics Group and the Fourth Marine Regiment, acting as an enemy soldier during training exercises as well as writing stories about the exercises.
And he was in Sri Lanka five days after the tsunami hit on Dec. 26, 2004.
He wound up acting as a media liaison for dozens of high-profile TV and newspaper reporters, lining up interviews with Marines and sailors involved in the relief effort, arranging transport for reporters, answering hundreds of phone calls and e-mails.
"I didn't sleep a whole lot," he said. "Working those 18-hour days, making it all happen for the various media crews."
Teslevich said the payoff sometimes came after he'd arranged to get a camera crew to a remote spot via helicopter, the only way they could get in.
"And they came back saying, 'That's the best video footage I ever shot in my life,' " he recalled. "To hear that, and to have them buy me a beer when we get back to the hotel, tired as hell, that's a good feeling."
After his service in Sri Lanka, Teslevich was sent to the Maldives, also hit by the tsunami. He assessed damage and helped coordinate relief that involved supplementing water supplies and providing water-purification equipment.
Teslevich said his experiences in the aftermath of the tsunami, and doing community relations at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, Calif., have directed him toward a new career goal.
He's going to leave the Marine Corps next spring and study public relations at Arizona State University. Before he starts school in August, though, he's going to travel around Europe for 2½ months.
He hasn't got his fill of exotic places. Not yet.
Ellie