FROM COVER
WEDNESDAY
NDIIEMDERB, 2D17
ALEX LUCHSINGER
Assistant Professor of
Communications
T he challenge and discipline
of the Marine Corps led to
Alex Luchsinger s enlisting in the
military at age 18.
Within three years, Luchsing-
er was deployed to al-Anbar
Province, Iraq, as a soldier in
a Security Battalion. It was his
mission to protect the convoys
traveling throughout the prov
ince.
“From day one in Iraq it was
very intense,” Luchsinger said.
“It was a very violent year ... we
would have lEDs on every single
convoy’
In 2005, during a security pa
trol in the city of Khan al-Bagh-
dadi, Luchsinger’s vehicle was hit
by an Improvised Explosive De
vice. The explosion resulted in
a traumatic brain injury, the ef
fects of which he still feels today.
“I still have some linger
ing effects like headaches and
dizziness,” Luchsinger said.
“But overall the recovery has
been fine.”
For. his injuries, Luchsinger
was awarded the Purple Heart.
He then retired from the Marines
in 2006, but that was not the last
time he would be in combat. Af
ter earning his undergraduate
and master’s degree, Luchsinger
was hired by CBS News.
As a journalist embedded
with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Ma
rines, Luchsinger was deployed
to Helmut Province, Afghani
stan, in 2011. This deployment
caused him to reflect on civ
il-military relations.
“There is a big gulf between
the veteran and the civilian pop
ulations,” Luchsinger said. “A
sociologist at school once said to
me, ‘When a democracy goes to
war, everyone should share the
burden’ And that has just not
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX LUCHSINGER
been the case.”
After Afghanistan, Luchsing
er returned to the United States
where he is currently finishing
his first semester at Elon Univer
sity as an assistant professor of
communications.
“I’ve really liked Elon so far,”
Luchsinger said. “It has been a
good fit for me here.”
Above: Alex
Luchsinger
speaks to
students in
his “Television
News
Reporting”
class Nov. 6.
Left: Luchsinger
stands on top
of a Iraqi police
station in
al-Anbar
Province during
a security
patrol in 2005.
A s the son of a Vietnam veter
an and a lead miner, Rodney
Parks was faced with two choices
at the age of 18 — the mines
or the military. The Sunday
after his high school gradu
ation in 1988, Parks was on
a train to boot camp.
In the Navy, Parks be
came a hospital corpsman
specialist and was de
ployed to Italy where his
tour was cut short by the
start of Operation Desert
Storm in 1990. Parks was
redeployed to Egypt where
he served throughout the major
ity of the Gulf War.
At the end of the conflict. Parks
was sent to an army hospital in Ger
many to aid the wounded coming
directly from the frontlines.
“We didn’t have a lot of casual
ties from the fighting, but we had
a lot of injuries,” Parks said. “The
wounds were pretty vicious — es
pecially the gunshot wounds. We
would do the best to piece them
back together and send them on
their way’’
While serving in the hospital
led to long hours of stress and fo
cus, Parks knew he was making
a difference.
“Being there and just helping
really made you feel that you were
performing a good duty for the
work that you were doing. It was
valuable,” Parks said.
Following the end of the Gulf
War, Parks taught at the school of
health sciences at the Naval Acade-
PHOTO COURTESY OF RODNEY PARKS
Top: Rodney Parks speaks to his .
“Wilderness and Adventure Therapy” class
around a bonfire at the ropes course Nov. 6.
Bottom: Parks waves In front of The Great
Pyramid Cheops (also known as The Great
Pyramid of Giza) in Egypt in 1991.
my and later went on to work in the
registrar’s office at the University of
Georgia. His work at UGA led him
to Elon University, where he now
works as the university registrar,
assistant to the provost and an assis
tant professor.
to answer.
“I was at a very pivotal
age for Sept. 11, but real
ly for the long drawn out
wars in Iraq and Afghan
istan,” McGowen said. “1
felt the country needed as
many people as they could
get, and I would rather go
then someone else go. I was
young, I was able-bodied, I was
single. It just made sense to me.”
As a captain with the 4th In
fantry Division, McGowen was in
charge of a combat outpost in Kan
dahar Province, Afghanistan. For
nine months he faced the dangers
of insurgency.
“It was crazy. We would do dai
ly and nightly patrols to try to re
duce the hold that the enemy force
had on the local population,” Mc
Gowen said. “We worked a lot with
the police and the Afghan National
Army, training them to take a lead
in everything we were doing.”
After returning from Afghan
istan, McGowen began his job
search and found Glen Raven, a
fabric manufacturing and market
ing company where he now works
as a manufacturing manager.
On top of work, family and his
reserve service, McGowen is also
pursuing a Master in Business Ad
ministration at Elon.
“I chose Elon because I want
ed the in-person learning,” Mc-
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILL MCGOWEN
Top: Will McGowen listens during his
MBA “Management and Organizational
Behavior” class Oct. 30.
Bottom: While deployed In Kandahar
Province, Afghanistan, McGowen poses in
full combat gear.
Gowen said. “I’ve had some really
good classes, good professors,
learned from other students and
am looking forward to continu
ing my education.”
McGowen is aiming to grad
uate from Elon with his MBA in
May 2019.