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Local teen a new Marine

Joanna Hartman
Sierra Sun
Alex Close/Sierra SunPrivate First Class Ryan Hunt, 18, is in Marine Corps combat training and would like to volunteer for service in Iraq.
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A recent Tahoe Truckee High School graduate completed boot camp with the U.S. Marine Corps and is off on his next adventure to train for combat with hopes of going to Iraq.

Ryan Hunt graduated from high school early, and signed up to be one of “the few and the proud” with the Marine Corps at 17 years old. He has been in San Diego at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot for the last five months.

“[Boot camp] is to get fit and to train you for war and the stress environment of combat … It’s really intense training ” really physical and really mental,” said Hunt.



“The Marine Corps doesn’t allow you to quit. That’s what I like. You give up on yourself before they give up on you. They don’t want you to quit.”

Hunt initially looked into both the Army and the Marines, but aligned himself with “Semper Phi” because he wanted the challenge, the honor and the title of one of the more prestigious military factions.



“Ryan chose the Marines because it’s the toughest and most disciplined,” said Dave Hunt, his father and a detective with the Placer County Sheriff’s Department.

“It’s something he wanted to do, and we back him 100 percent.”

Private First Class Hunt is next off to Marine Corps combat training for three weeks to train in basic infantry, then to field artillery school for one month where he will learn to work with big cannons like the Howitzer. From there, he could go to Camp Pendleton, Okinawa or Iraq, depending upon where he is needed most.

“I actually want to go to Iraq and help people,” said Hunt. “I want to try to get their trust back.”

Hunt has always been interested in the military, he said, and spent his free time in high school playing paintball in Tahoe Donner and Glenshire.

A well-mannered and determined young man, Hunt has goals. He wants to be in the Marine Corps for a bit, then go to college to get his bachelor’s degree in law enforcement. Then he he said he wants follow in the footsteps of his father, joining the ranks of Placer County Sheriff’s Department before eventually moving on to police work in a big city.


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