Christofferson finishes USMC boot camp

Since his days in kindergarten, Malta’s Kameron Christofferson knew he wanted to serve his country as a member of the armed forces.

Back then, his thought was to join the United States Army and when he reached high school, he enlisted and realized his lifelong dream. It was about two and half years into his service in the Army that Christofferson decided that he wanted to “kick it up a notch.”

“I was originally going to take the Special Forces route,” said Christofferson, “but then I decided I wanted to join the Marine Corps instead.”

Christofferson, a 2013 Malta High School grad, said that the process to get out of the Army in order to enlist in the Marines was not an easy one, going all the way up the Army’s chain of command and up to the state level.

“It was a lot of work, but I am happy with my choice,” he said.

Christofferson spent three months at MCRD in San Diego, Calif., and graduated from boot camp in late-August where, among other things, he scored expert as a rifleman earning his Marksmen badge. He has been home in Malta for the last week and in that time he has helped his recruiter recruit in the area, caught up with friends and family and, in general, enjoyed his brief time off.

Straight out of USMC boot camp, Christofferson starts out as a private. Before leaving the Army, Christofferson reached the rank of E4 Specialist, but now, as a Marine, he will be going to school to become a member of Marine Division Recon at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego.

Christofferson is the son of Malta's Bruce and Barb Christofferson. He said that since he has been through two different boot camps in less than three years, someday he would like to become a drill instructor.

“I’d like to get into the aviation field,” he said, “but I do want to become a drill instructor eventually. I’ve been through the game twice and I would kind of like to run the show for a change.”

Christofferson said that the difference between Army boot camp and that of the Marines is that in the Marines the training is more mental as where the Army is physical.

“Not to say that the Marine Corps didn’t have a lot of physical work,” he said, because it did. The Marine Corps is a lot harder because it was mentally tougher.”

Christofferson’s grandfather, Thomas Watson, was in the Army, but Christofferson admitted that when he was a child he did not realize the family tradition in the armed forces, but knew he wanted to serve in the military nonetheless.

“When I was little, I told my Mom I wanted to be in the Army,” he said. “I did that, but then decided I wanted to be a Marine. I think I will probably be a Marine Corps lifer.”