WEBVTT

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- Captain Evan Zach Ota.

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I'm the Operations Officer

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for the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines, it's America's battalion.

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I'm originally from Kealakekua, Hawaii,

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here on the Big Island.

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So PTA's really our premier training area

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in the State of Hawaii here, both for the Army and Marines.

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Coming out here is really where we get

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to do platoon live fire attacks, coping live fire attacks,

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and this year we've been doing battalion live fire attack

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in defense, so you can't really do

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that anywhere else in the state.

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That's why we come out here.

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I joined the Marine Corps back in 2007,

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right after I graduated

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from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

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I've been learning a lot of good things,

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learning about the world at the University of Hawaii.

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I really wanted to apply all the things I've learned

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in a real life setting, and I think there's no more

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difficult place that our country needed it applied

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than in Iraq Afghanistan.

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I thought the Marines was the best way to serve my country.