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thedrifter
04-30-08, 08:40 AM
LT. COL. KENNETH MERWIN Proud of the service he's been able to give
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
By STEVE CAMPBELL
Times Staff Writer steve.campbell@htimes.com

Former Marine put on uniforms of his dad, grandfather

MADISON - Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Lt. Col. Kenneth Merwin has watched friends in the U.S. Army Reserve drop everything and go to war.

In many cases, he said, reservists like the ones he knows must quit full-time jobs for much lower military pay when Uncle Sam calls. All reservists leave their families and hometowns to fight in the war on terror.

That's why, on the 100th anniversary of the Reserve, Merwin honors the nearly 190,000 men and women who back up the full-time Army.

"They deserve the utmost respect because they're doing what they do not out of pay, but for duty of country," said Merwin, himself a reservist.

The dedication Merwin describes helped inspire him to join the military.

His grandfather served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. His dad was a paratrooper in the Army during the 1960s.

Merwin would wear both uniforms.

Born and raised in Missoula, Mont., Merwin joined the Marines after graduation from high school in 1976. He learned to repair radar-jamming devices on military helicopters.

For seven years, he kept the devices working so helicopters could fly undetected in Soviet airspace. He never rode along during a mission, but said he was proud to help on the "technical side of things."

Merwin spent much of his Corps service in Cherry Point, N.C., but was moved to Iwakuni, Japan in the early 1980s. He said living abroad was "unique" but enjoyable.

In 1983, Merwin left the Corps to return to Missoula so he could enroll at the University of Montana. He joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps while majoring in physics.

Citing his dad's Army service, Merwin said joining the ROTC "just seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

As a cadet, Merwin participated in various fitness drills and competitions with his colleagues. He became lead cadet his junior year, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Reserve his senior year.

After graduation in 1987, Merwin was selected to go on active duty. Over the next several years, Merwin attended military signal school and earned his "wings" for completing numerous skydiving drills. Before joining the Reserve in 1997, Merwin briefly taught physics at West Point.

"I'm proud of the service I've been able to offer," Merwin said.

On the advice of a friend who said Redstone Arsenal was "the best kept secret in the Army," Merwin moved to Huntsville in 1999. He now does advisory and consulting work for the garrison commander at Redstone.

He is also president of Polaris Systems Inc., a consulting group that helps contractors get business with the government.

Merwin said his reservist colleagues deserve the "utmost respect" for their service.

Ellie