Marine from Lyons retires after 43 years
By Lance Cpl. Justin Shemanski

Though he has worked as Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island's assistant chief of staff comptroller for the past 13 years, Carl Butler has really been with the Marine Corps in one way or another for the past four decades.

He is now a GS-15 civil service employee on the cusp of retirement, but his career began as a private over 40 years ago; and it all began with a visit from a family member.

'My cousin was home on leave in uniform and I thought he looked sharp, so I thought I would give it a try,' said the Lyons native. It was a decision that would influence most of his adult life.

He shipped out to recruit training in 1961, right after his 18th birthday. After graduation, the brand new infantryman received his first orders to sea duty.

He spent the next three years at sea aboard the USS Long Beach, the USS Intrepid and the USS Hunley. Upon completion of his sea service, Butler was cut orders to the 2nd Marine Division at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. It was there that he would be attached to 1st Battalion, 6th Marines and would eventually see two tours in Vietnam.

'During my first tour I was a chief scout,' said Butler. 'We would be attached with a company and when they found weapons caches and things like that, it was our responsibility to tag them and get it all back to the rear. During my second tour, I was the S-4 chief sort of a jack-of-all-trades Marine I guess.'

In 1972, following deployments to Vietnam, Butler received orders to the drill field on Parris Island and served with 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, the same battalion he was a recruit in 10 years earlier. After his tour on the drill field ended in 1975, Butler was given the opportunity to change his Military Occupational Specialty and what he chose would prepare him for a career after the military.

'When I got off the drill field, I changed my MOS to 3400 (Basic Finance and Accounting Marine) and got assigned to the comptroller's department here,' he said. Butler then spent a brief, one-year tour in Okinawa, Japan, before returning to the Depot where he would retire as master sergeant in 1980. Even though his active-duty service had come to an end, Butler was still not finished serving the Marine Corps, so he decided to apply for a civil service position.

'I had to stay away from the Marine Corps for at least a year because back then, the regulations said that because I was retired, I couldn't work for the government again for a year,' said Butler. 'During that year, I just worked out in town with some of the local businesses and after a while, I put in my application for Civil Services and came back to work here in 1981 as a GS-7.'

Butler said there were two main reasons why he wanted to come back to Parris Island to work as a civilian. One was simply because of his love of the Corps, but the other had to do with a little bit of a pay-raise. 'The pay structure at the grade that I could come in with was much higher than I could have gotten out in town,' said Butler. 'When I first started working here, my pay doubled over night. That in it self was kind of a draw.' Over the next 23 years, Butler held positions as the budget analyst, lead analyst, budget officer and when the position went from military to civilian, he was selected to be comptroller, where he has served for the past 13 years and where he will remain until his retirement at the end of the year. But what exactly does someone do after 43 years of dedication to the Corps and it's mission?

'Well, there is a couple home projects that I would like to take care of, but I'm eventually going to have to sit down and figure things out,' said Butler, as he gazed out his office window. 'I just can't picture myself being a couch potato, so I'll find something.'

As Butler moves on to new things, he will still leave behind over four decades of knowledge and experience and according to a fellow co-worker; his presence will be greatly missed. 'He has always had a calming affect on all of us here,' said budget officer Gail Fryman, who gives some credit to the Marine Corps for his levelheaded approach to things. 'He was a Vietnam [veteran], so he had to learn to be calm and collected while out on night patrols.' She also said that though he will be missed, it might be one of those situations where it will not really hit home until something big comes up.

'We'll definitely miss his expert guidance and leadership,' said Fryman, who has known Butler since he was still on active-duty. In 43 years of service with one organization, friendships are sure to be forged that will last a lifetime and Butler said the people is what he will probably miss the most. 'I've met a lot of good people both military and civilian,' he said. 'We've had a lot of fun it's a lot more than camaraderie.'

Upon his retirement, Butler plans to stay right here in he Beaufort area where he will still be able to keep up with the Marine Corps and stay close to old friends. 'The Marine Corps has been good to me,' he said. 'When you've been with an outfit that's been good to you, it's hard not to stick round.'

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