Submitted photo Gunnery Sgt. Joesph Stevens stands with a folded American Flag while on base at Camp Pendleton.

NEW ULM — Joseph J. Stevens has lived in New Ulm for two years. He moved here to be closer to his parents and works at Schell’s as a brewer manager. However, before coming to New Ulm, Stevens had an extensive career in The United States Marine Corps. He retired as a Gunnery Sgt. in 2015.

Stevens was born in Stillwater, Minnesota and grew up in Woodbury. After graduating high school in 1994, he took a year off before enlisting in the Marines.

Stevens said he decided college was not for him and multiple friends had already joined The Marine Corps. He officially enlisted in 1995 and would remain with the Marines for the next two years. Looking back on the day he enlisted, Stevens admitted could never anticipate the places he would go or the experiences he would have over the next 20 years.

The start of his career in the Marines was basic training in San Diego, California.

“I can tell you, when I got to boot camp, I thought ‘this might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done in my life,'” Stevens said. However, he made it through basic training and combat training at Fort Pendleton. Stevens would ultimately join the Marine’s Field Artillery. At Fort Sill in Oklahoma, he learned to fire howitzers.

United States Marine, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Stevens retired from the Marines in 2015 after 20 years of service. He moved to New Ulm two years ago to be closer to his parents Thomas and Beverly Stevens.

“You learn the system itself and then it is all drills,” Stevens said. There are several positions on a battery unit and Stevens learned them all.

Two years after enlisting, Stevens was sent on his first deployment with the 15th Marine Expedition Unit. He served on a Navy vessel as a Lance Corporal and traveled throughout the Pacific. On this deployment his unit would train with armies from other countries; including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. During the deployment, his had a chance to visit several countries including Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. He even visited Hong Kong a year before the British handed this city over to China.

Over the next few years, Stevens continued to deploy for overseas exercises. In 1998, while deployed with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit he participated in exercises in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. In May 2000, he was promoted to Sergeant and served as Cannon Crewmen, Assistant Chief and Section Chief. This assignment sent him back to many of the same countries. He was able to visit Hong Kong again, but this time under China’s rule.

In October 2001, Stevens took on a new assignment as a Marine recruiter. He admitted that recruiting was the worst job in the Marine Corps at the time. The armed forces were in a build-up following the 9/11 attacks. Stevens was posted in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was an area of the country with high anti-war sentiment. His office was protested nearly every day.

In 2004, he was promoted to staff sergeant and his unit was sent overseas as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Submitted photo Joseph Stevens with Mt. Fuji in the background. The photo was taken during one of Stevens deployments to Japan.

Stevens said he participated in three operations during his time in Iraq. He helped serve in artillery, convoy security and Military Police.

“We served all over Iraq, but we were based out of Camp Ramadi, which was a hotspot at the time,” Stevens said. His unit was frequently under fire. During convoy security, Stevens remembers seeing a vehicle blow up in front of him and one blow up behind him. Stevens said it was luck that his vehicle was not hit.

By 2008, Stevens was deployed with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to Okinawa, Japan. He remained in Okinawa for a year. Once again, Stevens trained with other military units. He also attended school and became a Section Chief Instructor.

“I trained units on how to move in and out of buildings,” he said. Clearing buildings was one of the most dangerous activities. Stevens explained the odds were against a person when clearing the building. It was knowledge he would eventually need to put into use while serving in Afghanistan.

Stevens deployed to Afghanistan in 2011. He was stationed at Kajaki Dam in the Helmand Province. This was a vital post. Kajaki Dam is a hydroelectric power station that provides power to the province.

Submitted photos Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Stevens (Center) stands with fellow Marines MSgt Alex Ng (left) and 1stSgt Bernard Moran (right) while stationed at Bridgeport, California for cold weather trainining. This was last training exercise Stevens participated in before his retirement from the Marines.

“The only way to get into Kajaki Dam was to fly,” Stevens said. “You couldn’t drivr a convoy through. The road was too overdone with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED).”

While stationed here, Stevens’ unit participated in infantry patrols, and guard posts and approved in their own artillery fire.

An artillery unit approving itself to fire is a unique situation. Stevens said typically an artillery unit cannot fire until someone higher up command gives approval. However, Stevens battery unit was given special permission and discretion to approve their own firing orders. Since Kajaki Dam was an important location, they needed to fire on enemy targets quickly. There often was no time for approval from the command.

Stevens said they fired a lot of ordinance while stationed at Kajaki Dam. There was a firefight nearly every night as both sides wanted to control the dam.

As Battery Gunney, Stevens was in charge of ordering everything coming in and off the base. This included ammunition and food.

Joseph Stevens

“I remember we have a 4th of July meal coming on a plane and it got shot at,” he said. “There were steaks on the plane, but it had to turn around.”

After that, Stevens would make sure to order twice what was needed in case one of the planes couldn’t make it.

Stevens was stationed at the dam for eight months. During the last month, they took part in an operation to clear the road of IEDs. This also required Stevens to clear buildings in Helmand province.

After Afghanistan, he was brought back to Camp Pendleton. His unit changed from firing howitzers to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

He returned to Afghanistan in 2014 and was stationed at Camp Leatherneck. They served as HIMAR support providing fire support for units in the area. This would be Stevens’ last overseas deployment.

After returning stateside, Stevens remained mostly on base until retiring from the Marines in 2015. After 20 years in the service, he wanted to remain home with his family.

Stevens’ son Ryeland was born in 2003. He had been on deployment through much of his son’s life and missed several birthdays.

“I wanted to see him graduate,” Stevens said.

After leaving the Marines, Stevens got a degree in business administration. His time in the Marines had already given him ample experience in administration. During his time in school, he also gained experience brewing beer for The Mason Jar Brewing Co.

Two years ago, Stevens relocated to Minnesota to be near his parents. His parents had moved from Woodberry to New Ulm years earlier. Stevens immediately applied at Schell’s as a brewer and was hired.

Stevens was pleased to announce Schell’s would be releasing a special veterans brew on Veteran’s Day. He described the new brew as a coffee stout beer.

Stevens has not completely left his artillery days behind him. He joined the New Ulm Battery. He said the Civil War-era cannons do not have the same kick as the howitzer.

He is also a member of the VFW and American Legion and is scheduled as the Veteran’s Day speaker at Cathedral High School on Nov. 10.

Looking back on his time in the Marines, Stevens said it is a hard thing to explain. Though some of his postings were only for a few months, it felt like he was there for a lifetime.

However, Stevens is proud of his time in the Marines. He said if he had known what lay ahead for him in 1995 when he first enlisted, he would not change a thing.

Stevens said, “I would never give up my experiences.”