MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- He quietly sits alone, waiting to board a C-130 transport plane that is heading to the mainland to participate in a one-month training exercise at Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Ariz., with the rest of his unit, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463.

The young aviation technician will train in a desert environment to prepare for an upcoming deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“My thought on deploying to Iraq is that they asked us to go, so we’re going,” said Sgt. Zachary Pilon, HMH-463. “I’ve been deployed to a few places before, but this is my first one to a combat situation.”

Pilon has been deployed to Japan, twice, and four times to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, to prepare for deployments to combat zones. Now he has the chance to show that all the training he has completed so far was well worth the effort.

“I’m not really afraid of going to Iraq, because that’s my job,” said the 25-year-old, Myrtle Beach, S.C. native. “It needs to be done, so I have to do what I have to do.”

Pilon joined the Marine Corps after graduating from high school. He said that he knew after finishing high school that college was not in the cards for him.

“I joined because I didn’t want to go to college,” said Pilon. “I wasn’t ready for college, because I was basically done with school and the whole education environment. Being 18 years old at the time, I had to do something or else I was going nowhere.”

Pilon decided to join the Marine Corps because the Marine recruiter showed more interest in helping him decide what to do after high school. The Marine recruiter’s influence was one aspect that helped him decide to join the Marine Corps in June 1998. But it was also an easy decision because he knew the other services weren’t going to suit his needs.

“I knew I didn’t want to join the Navy, because I didn’t want to go on ships, which is ironic because I ended up on ships,” he said. “I didn’t even talk to the Air Force, and I didn’t join the Army because of my stepfather. He was in the Army, and he told me a lot of war stories of when he was in the Army, and I completely shut out the Army because of that.”

When Pilon walked into the recruiting office, he was hoping to get a job that dealt with computers. Instead he got one that dealt with helicopters, something that he has since learned to enjoy.

“When they told me my job, I didn’t know what it really was,” he said. “I did have a general idea, so I knew that I had to go to the school with an open mind. I have no complaints with the job I have.”

Being stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, gave Pilon the opportunity to meet the woman that would eventually become his wife of almost four years.

With his hectic work schedule and spending time with his wife, Pilon still finds time to attend Chaminade University on base. Pilon already has earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice and is currently working on his bachelor’s degree. Even though he has a degree that will help him when he leaves the Marine Corps, Pilon said he is undecided about what he will do after he gets out, or even if he will get out.

“I have thought about getting out before, but then I reenlisted,” he said. “I think the best thing I can do is take my career in the Marine Corps one enlistment at a time.”