Most people imagine life follows a fairly predictable timeline.

You graduate high school. You go to college. You graduate. You start a career.

That wasn't my path.

My path took the long way around.

While many of my friends were beginning their first semesters of college, I was attending a different university.

I jokingly call it: Grunt University.

The campus was Camp Geiger, North Carolina.

The curriculum included:

• Infantry tactics
• Weapons systems
• Land navigation
• Patrolling
• Small-unit leadership
• Combat operations

While many of my peers were selecting classes and majors, I was learning how to become an infantry Marine.

Different campuses. Different experiences. Different missions.

Building a Future

I didn't have a college fund waiting for me. I didn't expect one.

If I wanted a degree, I was going to have to earn it.

The Marine Corps became part of that path.

While serving, I used Tuition Assistance to take classes.

Later, while serving in the Marine Corps Reserve, I used the GI Bill.

I also took advantage of CLEP testing, which the military supported.

I successfully tested out of:

• Macroeconomics
• Microeconomics
• Business Management
• History I
• History II

That represented a significant amount of coursework completed through examination rather than traditional classroom attendance.

Every credit counted. Every class counted. Every semester counted.

The First Phone Call

Then life interrupted the plan.

I was enrolled as a full-time college student when I received a phone call from my Platoon Sergeant.

Our unit had been mobilized.

I had fourteen days to get my affairs in order and report in.

We were joining the force assembling in Kuwait for the push into Iraq.

One day I was focused on college. Two weeks later I was focused on deployment.

Mission first. Just like that.

Back to School

After deployment, I returned to college and continued working toward my degree.

The mission resumed.

One class at a time. One semester at a time. One step at a time.

Then the phone rang again.

The Second Phone Call

In 2007, I was again a full-time college student.

And once again, my unit was mobilized.

This time it was in support of The Surge in Iraq.

Once again, civilian plans gave way to military obligations.

Once again, duty came first.

Looking back, I sometimes laugh about the timing. Every time I started getting comfortable as a student, the Marine Corps seemed to have other ideas.

But that experience taught me an important lesson:

Life rarely follows a straight line.

Benefits Are Earned

Sometimes conversations about the GI Bill focus entirely on the educational benefits. What often gets overlooked is what comes before the benefits.

Before I received Tuition Assistance, I had to earn it.

Before I used the GI Bill, I had to earn it.

Before I took a military-funded CLEP exam, I had to earn it.

That meant:

• Raising my right hand.
• Serving honorably.
• Completing my obligations.
• Deploying when called.
• Putting the mission ahead of my personal schedule.

The benefits supported my journey. The commitment came first.

2008

Then came 2008. Three major chapters converged.

I graduated from the University of Memphis.

I completed my Marine Corps enlistment and received an honorable discharge.

And on November 10, 2008 — the Marine Corps Birthday — I founded Two Marines Moving.

One chapter ended. Another began.

Looking back, that year represented the completion of several long-term missions at the same time. Not because everything went according to plan. Because I stayed with the plan, even when life interrupted it.

What This Means

One reason I enjoy hiring veterans, reservists, students, ROTC cadets, first responders, and ambitious young people is because I understand what it means to build a future incrementally.

One class becomes a semester.

One semester becomes a degree.

One enlistment becomes a career.

One move becomes a company.

One day becomes a life.

The people who succeed are not always the most talented. Often they are simply the people who refuse to quit.

Final Thoughts

The University of Memphis gave me an education.

The Marine Corps gave me discipline.

The deployments taught resilience.

The interruptions taught adaptability.

The journey taught persistence.

And all of those experiences eventually led to the creation of Two Marines Moving.

If there is one lesson I took from that chapter of life, it is this: life does not have to go according to plan for the mission to be successful.

Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Keep moving forward. Complete the mission.

If you are a veteran, a reservist, a student, or someone who has taken the long way around — and you are looking for a company that understands that path — we built this place for you.

Two Marines Moving was not built by people who had everything handed to them. It was built by people who kept showing up.

That is the kind of people we are still looking for.

Semper Fidelis,
Nicholas Edmond Baucom
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Two Marines Moving

Marine Combat Veteran Founded & Owned Since 2008. Industry Leading Pay. Moving Done Right. Join the Mission.