Bobo bats 1000

Jefferson Bobo receives the Navy Achievement Award.
Jefferson Bobo receives the Navy Achievement Award.

Jefferson Bobo, a young man from the island of Ebeye, is thriving in his new career in the US Navy, which follows a couple years of working at the Ministry of Public Works after he became the first Marshall Islander to graduate from the US Coast Guard Academy, with a degree in engineering.

After departing RMI two years ago, he went into Navy boot camp, where he was selected, at graduation, as an Honor Recruit. He attended a Navy school as an “engineering aide,” where he graduated with honors. He later did a stint in expeditionary combat skills before moving to Port Hueneme, California where he is part of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Four. His duties include technical drafter, surveyor and material testing.

While in his current posting, he’s won multiple awards, including the 2015 Blue Jacket of the Year and Navy Achievement Medal. Not only has he achieved awards but he has also made a name for himself by being designated to oversee physical training for his platoon and assisting in command Physical Fitness Assessments. Previously, when he attended the Coast Guard Academy, Bobo was an outstanding boxer.

“The most successful people are the ones who fail countless times but never give up,” Bobo observed. “Even when the world turns its back on you, God will always be there for you.”

Read more about this in the January 22, 2016 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.