Cole Roberts

United States Marine Corps

By: Michelle Horton

Cole Roberts was born in Ruston, Louisiana, and moved to Texarkana at the age of ten. Cole describes his childhood as “easy and fun” and remarks on his supportive parents and both sets of grandparents. He relied on his siblings for entertainment and made the best of each day. At the age of 18, Cole asked himself the all-important question, “What do I want to do with my life?”

Cole weighed several possibilities for life after high school but realized he did not like any of them outside of the military. “I knew the military would give me some type of discipline and would help me with a purpose. At the time, I was only bussing tables, and I knew I needed to learn more skills,” Cole says. He decided to visit the different military recruiting offices at Central Mall in Texarkana until he found his fit with the Marine Corps. “I knew I wanted to pursue firefighting when I was out of the military, and that was a job available,” Cole says. “Also, the Marine Corps made me feel like they had a lot of camaraderie, and I wanted that. It seemed like they were a fit for me.”

Cole told his parents he visited with a recruiter and then took a couple of days to decide. “I told my parents, ‘Hey, by the way, I think I’m going to do this,’ and they were shocked. They did not try to talk me out of it but definitely showed me other options. But once I reaffirmed that going into the Marine Corps was it, they got behind it,” Cole says.

Cole would enter a pool program where he would have to remain ready to pass physical examinations until the day came for him to be sworn into the Marine Corps in Little Rock, Arkansas. After this time, Cole returned home to live life and get things in order before his ship date in January 2013 arrived. However, news would come in August 2012 that the Marine Corps was ready for him. Cole and his best friend, Bryan Buchanan, who also joined the Marine Corps at the same time, had a cruise planned already, so the Marine Corps had them ship out in October 2012, just a couple of days after they arrived back from their cruise. “My best friend and I checked into Little Rock and flew from Little Rock to San Diego Airport. We immediately checked into the USO, waited all day, and around ten o’clock that night, boarded the boot camp bus,” Cole says. “There were about 80 of us on that bus, and as they drove us to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, they yelled the entire time like we had just killed their cat. They get you off the bus, and you have these golden footprints that they make you stand on, all stationed in the position of attention.” Cole quickly learns that his past must be left behind as he enters these doors at boot camp. After this, he enters what looks like an ISS classroom, takes out all his belongings, wallet, phone, and anything in his pockets, and the Marine Corps decides what he will be allowed to take in. Cole put his clothes in a box and started to put on the Marine’s clothes.

“You go through a receiving week in which they keep you up an entire week, teaching you basic things, like how to pack, physical training, and so much more before you hit Black Friday. Black Friday is when you will be stationed with a unit and a platoon number and meet your assigned drill instructors. During this 13-week boot camp, everyone will receive the same training: Marine Corps history, physical training, Marine Corps rank structure, how to salute, what to say to people, and basically getting you to the point where you will follow orders no matter what. You learn that you will not ask questions but just act,” Cole says.

During the second month of boot camp, they moved to Camp Pendleton, where they began rifleman training. The drilling continued, but this time, they were very focused on shooting and making sure they could shoot a rifle accurately. Their final month was back at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, where they prepared for The Crucible.

“The Crucible is the final test for the Marine Corps. They keep you up for three days with three MRE Meals. They hike you from landmark to landmark, and you simulate the same actions that former Medal of Honor recipients did to achieve that honor. It’s an eye-opening experience being this exhausted and to know that a guy before me was more exhausted than I am and did even more,” Cole explains. This trial is one that every Marine recruit endures as it tests their mental toughness, physical stamina, and ability to think critically while enduring stress from hunger, sleep deprivation, and physical exhaustion over a 54-hour period.

At the highest hill of the Crucible, Cole received his Eagle, Globe, and Anchor award and transformed from a recruit to a full member of the Marine Corps. A five-mile hike back to the Warrior Breakfast, followed by a week, and Cole is presented to his family, and they get to spend the day together at the base. Cole would graduate, spend a month at home in Texarkana, and then return to Camp Pendleton to learn to shoot in motion during Combat Training. The next step was to begin firefighter training in San Angelo, Texas.

Cole would undergo multi-level training at the Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. He began as an Emergency Medical Responder learning the ropes, then onto Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 training, teaching him how to put his gear on, spray the hose, different hose patterns depending on the situation he was facing, how to stand, learn what different smoke means, and much more. HazMat Awareness was the next level, where Cole learned to identify specific hazmat properties. Finally, he attended an Airport Firefighting training, which is what the Marine Corps specializes in. This training provided Cole with a basic knowledge of airport firefighting.

Cole would be placed with a unit specifically attached to an air base. He describes his unit’s main goals: “We were to know the aircrafts that would be using the base, know the danger areas of those aircrafts, and know the runways and how to mauver on them. This was our main goal every day.” Cole was able to place a preference to be stationed on the West Side after training, and he got his wish and was assigned to Camp Pendleton. “Upon receiving these orders, I was also told that the Pendleton guys are getting ready to deploy to Afghanistan in August. I was graduating in late July. They said whoever gets picked up from Pendleton here (San Angelo base) will be picked up for deployment. I knew I was deploying before I ever got to my unit,” Cole says.

Cole was nervous about the deployment but also felt he did not deserve to go. “There were multiple people that wanted to go to Afghanistan. So many Marines joined to fight and get stationed state-side and never get to go fight,” Cole says. “I also felt fortunate because it was one of the last deployments during Operation Enduring Freedom and the first of Operation Inherent Resolve.”

Cole spent seven months in Afghanistan, bouncing around different Marine Crops bases in the Helmand Province. He also spent time on an air station, utilizing all of his firefighting training. “The culture, living conditions, and view were different in Afghanistan. It was all flat and desert, with no dunes. I was there during the winter season, and it actually snowed there. You have local Afghans that come onto the base, and their 9-5 job is to take Marines from one bus stop to the other, driving this one strip of road all day. They do not speak good English, know what they are supposed to do, and don’t talk. Some guys serving you chow are like that, too,” Cole says. “It was a joint base, too, so you are joining up with people from the Royal Air Force and Jordanians, plus different United States Marine Corps units. You’re with different countries’ military forces sharing the same eating space. I actually worked alongside and slept in the same building as firefighters for the Royal Air Force. I learned that they drink tea like we drink coffee.”

After returning to the States, Cole remains at Camp Pendleton for nearly a year and is deployed again on a Marnie Corps Expedition for close to seven months. While working various operations on the expedition, Cole was able to explore Thailand, Hong Kong, Israel, and many other places. “I paid money to go into Jerusalem, but there was rioting on the route there, so they canceled my day. I never got to go, but Israel was really, really cool to see,” Cole says. Seven months later, Cole returns back to the States and spends the remaining year of active-duty service at the Pendleton Air Station.

Cole’s highest promotion during his military service was to level E4 Corporal. He was rated for wearing an Afghan campaign ribbon and an overseas ribbon and was awarded a good conduct award for perfect conduct for three years.

After serving four years of active duty by September 2016, Cole continued with four years of inactive duty to finish his eight-year contract. Transitioning from military to civilian life was challenging. “I got fired from a job for being a little too abrasive. I told the person I was having a problem with that they were lazy and needed to fix it. I also got into a fight with my brother over something I thought was disrespectful but wound up being mediocre. It took me a second to realize that not everyone is intentionally trying to screw you,” Cole explains.

If there is something Cole wishes civilians understood about military service, it would best be explained by this: “Don’t ask anybody if they killed anybody! If people knew how big of a deal that is or that maybe the person they are asking is having trouble with that subject, I would ask them to refrain from that question.”

Today, Cole is a thriving 30-year-old man, married to the love of his wife, Maryanna Caroline (Wisdom) Roberts. The couple met through a mutual friend and were married in May of this year. Both Cole and Maryanna enjoy having their parents, Joey and Amanda Roberts, and Rick and Debbie Wisdom, plus a number of siblings, in their lives. In his spare time, he enjoys being at the gym, hiking, at the beach, or anywhere near water.

Cole serves his community through the Texarkana Arkansas Fire Department (TAFD) as a firefighter, helping people on their worst days. This month, he has been with the fire department for five years and, along with his crew, is being recognized as the 2024 TAPD Firefighters of the Year at the 45^th Annual Public Safety Officer Appreciation Luncheon. Due to his extensive Marine Corps training, Cole was able to skip Fire Academy and plug into the department immediately. “We do Emergency Medical Service runs, work car wrecks, downed power lines, gas leaks, inspections, check fire hydrants, hose-testing, and complete physical fitness tests. The Marines taught me camaraderie, how to work with others, and the many other skills I learned from the military; they all directly transferred over. Especially teaching me to live with different personalities, which is what we have to do when we are not on call,” Cole says.

Cole’s best friend, Bryan, whom he entered the Marine Corps with, remained in contact with Cole throughout their time. While Cole was fighting fires during his military service, Bryan became an aircraft electrician for F18 Charlies. Now, the two work together at TAFD.