Marine Military Academy - Pass In Review Yearbook (Harlingen, TX)

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ACADEMY SERGEANT MAIOR MMA is fortunate in having a top drawer, Academy Sergeant Major. A native of Kentucky, Sgt.!Maj. W. E. Steigerwald, USMC CRet.J is the ranking NCO on campus. He served in the USMC for over twenty-four years before coming to MMA in 1969. He saw action in the Pacific during WWII and again in the Korean Conflict. Being the Sgt.!Maj. at MMA is like being one in a regular Marine unit, says Steigerwald. The big difference is the age factor. I'll truthfully say there are times when these youngsters are even better than their adult counterparts. Now, that's accomplishing something. Sergeant Major W. E. Steigerwald 11 4lE,' 1 X 'lr-

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5 J l 5 Coi. 1 om U. Parsons USMC Ret. Has iust sta ' rted this vear as Commandant of Cadets. Paula Frizzell - Military Secretary and D' f Daily Word. 1SDenser 0 the MMA 50 coMMANnANT or capers Colonel Tom D Parsons USM tRet.J was born in'D ll T C the 22nd of Iuly 1923 Plc?-'atfdcnadecdn public school in Dallas and the Navy V-12 program in lgifered Following school at Southwest' , ern Ignivirlsity and the University of ew exico, he entered the States Naval Academy and uglllled graduation was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. After officer training at Quantico, Virginia, he was ordered to Korea and served as a platoon leader with the First Battalion, 1st Marines. Tours as a company grade officer followed in Pearl Harborg Annapolis, Marylandg Camp Lejeune, North Carolinag and Pueblo Colorado. Promoted to Major in 1960, he joined the 3rd Marine Division on Okinawa as the G-3 Plans Officer. Lieutenant Colonel Parsons then attended the Command and Staff College and instructed at the Amphibious Warfare School until 1968. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 28th Marines and subsequently became the Assistant to the Senior Marine Advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Corps. Returning to the United States in 1970, he was assigned to be the Commanding Officer, Embassy Guard Battalion. consisting of some 130 Marine detachments throughout thelworld. Transferred to Parris Island in 1973. he was executive officer ofthe Commanding General. He c0mPl9led thirty years of Marine service at Marine Corps Development and Education Command at QUHUUCO' f Virginia, where he was also Chiefo Staff to the Commanding General- ' A iff '-7xi '2e'j:-:gifs-f. Q A A 1 1- - A -' M h -1 . V 1 V 5 A 4 ' '

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CHAPEL Marine Military Academy cadets are taught to believe in themselves, their fellow cadets, their corps, country, and Cod. The arrival of the former Chaplain of the Marine Corps, Captain Leo I. McDonald, has brought a new dimension to the religious training at M.M.A. His experience in the area of counseling and helping young men in a military atmosphere is already proving successful. Because of my military training, I can help these young men, he says, but l am not an academic counselor. He feels he adds only an additional resource to the counseling abilities of M.M.A. Since his arrival at M.M.A. Chaplain McDonald has found a meaningful and rewarding sgx ministry. The Academy believes in developing the whole person, he noted. And he feels he can help cadets to develop in a spiritual way. 1 ' , V My, '.v:r'f. A ' f,Q,,,fk Alai f l it l V 8 J l