MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- For one Marine stationed here, being an artist has always came natural.
Corporal Jennifer Ungerecht, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 combat engineer and Joint Reception Center personnel staff, has used her natural talent to make the Station a little more pleasing to the eye.
Although she has been recognized around the Station for her work, her love for art dates back to when she was a child.
Like every other kid, I used to paint on the walls, I was always looking for crayons and paper and was always coloring in coloring books, she said.
Although her talents may have not been as visible by her early-age antics, in her later childhood years she placed first or second place for four years in a row in her communitie?s art contests.
When Ungerecht got to junior high in her hometown of Northome, Minn., she started taking art classes and wood shop to satisfy her desire to create art.
Throughout high school she continued her art education, and furthered it by taking ceramics classes and advanced art classes to increase her ability to work with various mediums and express her inner moods.
In high school my art teacher really encouraged me, challenged me and helped me make the transition between creativity and realism, she said.
When Ungerecht finished high school, she joined the Marine Corps to serve her country as a combat engineer.
However, before she was building projects as a combat engineer, she was already hard at work putting her artistic touch on whatever she could get her hands on.
When I was in bootcamp I painted my Senior Drill Instructor?s foot locker with a mural of Iwo Jima and the names of every recruit in my platoon, she said. While stationed here, I helped paint the Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 mural and the letters on their physical training tables.
Her painting around the Station not only benefits her with a sense of accomplishment, but also everyone aboard the Station, according to Sgt. Maj. Dave Allison, Station sergeant major.
Corporal Ungerecht is exceptionally talented and ambitious, said Allison. I have seen her work on unit logos and her personal portfolio, her talent serves the Marine Corps well and her potential is unlimited.
In the future Ungerecht plans on further combining the Marine Corps and her artwork in the biggest way possible by moving into the combat illustrator military occupational specialty.
I would like to move into graphics field in the Marine Corps, and when I get out I would like to become an art teacher, she said. Whatever I do, it is good to know that art will always be a part of my life and my family will always support the choices I make in perusing it.