The Virginia Informer

Last Updated:4/23/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Lance Zaal Defending the ship: William and Mary student Lance Zaal fought Somali pirates while on active duty in the Marine Corps. He also served in Iraq protecting the new government.

When Sergeant Lance Zaal ('09) graduated in 2002 from University High School in Orange County, California, he'd already decided he wasn't going to college immediately. "I didn't want to do what I thought was the same boring thing that everybody else was doing after high school," Zaal said. "I wanted to do something more. I wanted to serve my country and be a part of history. 9/11 was the perfect opportunity." Zaal enlisted in the Marine Corps infantry, where he served on active duty until 2006.

Noticeably older and more mature than most college students, Zaal spends much of his time in the library, working to fulfill the nineteen credits he needs this semester to complete his three-year academic track. Four years of military service have armed Zaal not only with a tenacious work ethic, but also with a certain level of gravitas that gives one the impression that his mind is not completely back from overseas.

"My first deployment was to Baghdad," Zaal said. In March 2004 Zaal served as a member of Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST), which provided security for the Coalition for Provisional Authority, Iraq's interim government after Saddam Hussein fell from power. His squad "did limited patrolling in the Baghdad area." At one point, his section prevented three members of the Mahdi Army from infiltrating the compound they were protecting, an accomplishment that merited a personal congratulations from General David Howell Patraeus and Ambassador L. Paul Bremer. Between deployments to Iraq, Zaal worked in Cuba, leading a team that manned the border between the island nation and Guantanamo Bay. He also helped train forces in South America. Zaal was called back to Iraq in 2005, where he served as Squad leader in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, attached to a Marine Expeditionary Unit, Special Operations Capable, or MEU (SOC). On
their first day on patrol, "my squad saw the first combat action of the MEU." Shortly after leaving their forward operating base, insurgents fired a rocket at the company, and Zaal and his squad "got into an engagement with them." Zaal declined to disclose the identity of the attackers, simply referring to them as "the bad guys."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools