A member of the Marine Corps since 1997, Lt. Col. Hayek originally joined our Armed Forces in the spirit of showing that his drive to succeed had no bounds.
“Growing up, I was the kid who was a little smaller than everyone else, and because of that, I always had to prove myself in regard to things like athletics,” Lt. Col. Hayek said. “I started looking into the different branches of the military when I was a senior in high school, and I viewed the Marine Corps as the hardest thing to do. People kept telling me I was too small to do stuff, so I walked into the recruiter office and signed up. Almost 28 years later, the rest is history.”
Indeed, that decision served as the spark for what grew into a long and decorated career of service that included multiple deployments to Iraq.
“I think my first deployment was probably the defining moment of my career,” Lt. Col. Hayek said. “The one in 2004 really tested me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually – which are what I consider to be the four pillars of performance. At 23 years old, I was being asked to do things as a non-commissioned officer that are drastically different from what we ask of our NCOs when we’re not in a combat environment.”
Those duties included tasks such as leading a team of more than a dozen Marines, coordinating convoy security patrols, inspecting suspected improvised explosives and performing route reconnaissance missions.
It was dangerous work, but through it all, Lt. Col. Hayek’s relationships were what maintained his unwavering resolve at such a young age.
“When I look back on it now, those moments were really about my brothers and sisters,” Lt. Col. Hayek said. “It was about the individual to my left and to my right and whether or not we were going to make it back to our forward operating base, and it changed me. That period of time changed me forever.”
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