CPT(P) Tony Salinas grew up outside of Detroit and, as a high school student, was drawn to the promised adventure of the Marine Corps. He enlisted at 17 and attended Boot Camp in July 1998, shortly after graduating from high school. He appreciated the “replicated violence and intensity” he found in the Marines, learning to put his faith in his leaders and control his fear. He also wanted to continue pursuing his education, and night school was not enough. In July 2002, he left the Marine Corps to pursue a college degree, intending to rejoin the military, and an Army ROTC Officer mentioned that he could get funding for graduate school if he enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2007 with a Master’s Degree in History and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Army. He was assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado, but was soon deployed to Afghanistan, where he served as a Platoon Leader. Shortly after returning from Afghanistan, he deployed to Iraq with the 4th ID Headquarters. After Iraq and Fort Carson, he served at Fort Meade, Maryland, before he was assigned to the United States Military Academy, where he currently teaches in the Department of History.
In this interview, Tony talks about his training, the cultural differences between the Marine Corps and the Army, and his deployments. He describes journaling throughout his deployments, which eventually became his book, “Siren’s Song: The Allure of War.” Finally, he discusses what his service means to him, and how serving and teaching history fulfilled his lifelong dreams.
