Marine Corps Logistics Command Albany, GA -- Maj. Travis Bowser, operations officer, G4, Marine Corps Logistics Command, will unofficially retire from the Marine Corps during a ceremony May 30 at the Base Theater at 10:30 a.m.
He will officially retire from active duty in September 2019 after 24 years of honorable and faithful service to the Corps.
Family, fellow Marines, and friends are invited to witness his retirement ceremony.
Before transitioning into the next chapter in his life, Bowser discussed what made him into the man and Marine he is today.
Growing up, Bowser faced many struggles that led him to embody the slogan ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’ well before becoming a Marine. He lived by these words daily throughout his childhood not knowing their true meaning at the time.
According to Bowser, it was overcoming life’s adversities that helped him be successful in the Marine Corps.
In 1977, he was born in Lexington, Tennessee to a 16-year-old single mother. Oftentimes, even as a child himself, he was responsible for helping raise his younger siblings.
“While this may sound like a difficult beginning and a sad story, my childhood helped make me the man I am today,” Bowser said.
At the age of 17 and living on his own, he met with a Marine Corps recruiter who changed his life.
“The recruiter said in order for me to become a Marine I needed a high school diploma,” he explained. “I was, at the time, a high school dropout.”
The recruiter helped him enroll in an adult high school to obtain his diploma.
“I was able to complete high school six months before my former peers, and I was a year behind when I started,” he said. “The recruiter’s office was exactly where I needed to be and the United States Marine Corps literally saved my life. The reasons I joined included the guarantee of three-square meals a day, clothing, a bed, a brotherhood, and a family.”
Bowser enlisted in the Marine Corps May 23, 1995 and attended Marine Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.
“While enlisted, I learned the ropes of supply and enjoyed what I was doing, but I wanted more,” he said. “I knew I was capable of more and I wanted to be a leader of Marines.”
Wanting a bigger challenge, Bowser applied for Broadened Opportunity for Officer Selection and Training and the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Program to become a Marine Corps officer.
He attended the University of Houston in Houston, Texas where he was given the opportunity to mentor Midshipmen.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to mentor those younger minds who lacked experience of the Navy or Marine Corps,” he said.
In December 2006, Bowser graduated college and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
As an officer, he continued to use his enlisted and officer experiences to guide and counsel the future of the Marine Corps.
“In my virtually 24 years of service, I have seen the beautiful shores of Okinawa, Japan as well as the breathtaking sunsets on San Onofre Beach, California,” he said. “I have lived in more than a dozen states. I have acquired the knowledge of what I value about different places across this great nation and world.
“I have seen battle and what war can do to a country and its citizens, but also what war can do to my brothers and sisters in arms,” he continued. “I have an outstanding, smart and beautiful wife and five wonderful children who show me daily what it is like to be alive.”
With pride, Bowser said he must have done something right as his oldest child is currently an enlisted Marine at his entry-level school.
“I am grateful for each and every experience I have had, as it has always taught me something and shaped me into the husband, father, son, brother, mentor, and Marine that I am today,” he stated.
Bowser never gave up and continued to take all life’s situations in stride even to pursue his education during his off duty time.
Although his start in life did not look promising, this high school dropout has obtained three bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree.
While most retirees hang up their uniform for the last time when they retire, Bowser will not.
He will need them for his next assignment as he will be the Senior Military Instructor at the Marine Corps Junior ROTC program at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
“I wanted to be a MCJROTC instructor because I enjoy mentoring,” he said. “I appreciate sharing what I know with others and seeing others succeed.”
Bowser said being a father of five children has prepared him for his next job.
“I am quite familiar with children of all ages and what makes them tick, what motivates them, and what is important to them at each different developmental stage of life,” he said. “I also know that not all children have this positive male role model in their life, as I did not. I know how important this person can be in helping provide a positive impact on the development and educational success of a child.”
Maj. Henry Nesbitt, infantry advisor, Training Exercise Control Group, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Twentynine Palms, California, met Bowser at University of Houston and have been close friends for the past 16 years.
“Major Bowser is one of the most selfless people I've ever met and he genuinely cares for his friends and family and would go to any length to help them,” Nesbitt said. “This is reflected in his superior service to his country for the past 24 years and the quality of his record which reflects his personal dedication to perfection in all that he does.
“I've never seen him settle for less than the absolute best and every one of his subordinates, peers, superiors, and friends would gladly attest to that mentality,” he continued. “I've looked up to him as a role model ever since he took me under his wing in college, and as an aspiring Marine, I could not have hand pick a better person to help me grow into a Marine and a leader.”
Nesbitt describes Bowser as a person who invests himself completely into everything that he does and those around him take notice and respect him for it.