MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Andre L. Boyer has been called many things throughout the course of his life: son, brother, husband, father, even sir. When referred to by one name, however, a certain proud smile creeps across his face.
Just call him Dr. Boyer. The title is a testament of the 44-year-old’s hard work taking him from the projects of northern Ohio to the beaches of San Diego, a journey that interestingly enough began here in Iwakuni.
Boyer grew up the youngest of 10 children and raised by a single mom in then racially divided Cleveland. By the time he was a teenager, schools were in the process of intermixing students from opposite sides of town.
“In the city we lived in the blacks lived on one side of the neighborhood and the whites lived on the other side, so the public school system decided (to) desegregate the schools,” Boyer said. “So they bussed some of the black kids to the west side and the white kids over to the east side. When I got to high school that was a big thing going on, and I didn’t want to have to go to the other side of town to go to school.”
In those days, the advent of the space age and aircraft mechanics held endless opportunities, so Boyer opted to attend a technical school and study aviation technology hoping to learn a trade and pave the way for his future.
“I saw this as an opportunity for me to do something with my life and contribute to society,” said Boyer. “For those next three years I was an aircraft mechanic.”
Knowing military experience in aviation could be parlayed into a lucrative civilian career, Boyer decided to enlist in the Air Force. Fate had a different path for the well-spoken Ohioan, however, and it all began when he met a sharp-dressed Marine Corps recruiter.
“One day I was in the (Air Force) recruiter’s office to talk to the guy. He wasn’t in the office, but there was a Marine recruiter there in his dress blues,” Boyer said, laughing at the circumstances spurning the careers of so many Marines. “I must say, he looked very good and I was impressed … I thought, ‘Hey, let me give this a try.’”
In 1982 Boyer found himself stationed in Iwakuni working in aviation logistics. Some of his earliest experiences in the Marine Corps shaped the goals that molded the man into what he is today.
The senior leaders were all technical experts in their job fields who demanded the same level of excellence from their Marines, Boyer said.
“I had one chief warrant officer who taught me that yes, he could give me the answer, but it’s better if you find out the answer yourself,” he added. “That really impressed me about learning.”
For the next several years Boyer’s education would take a backseat to his family and professional life. A married father of two by age 22, he was balancing work, deployments and raising a family in Cherry Point, S.C. It was while stationed in Okinawa in 1989 he one day had what some would call an epiphany.
“One morning I literally kind of woke up and said, ‘You know what? I can’t be a Marine forever,’” Boyer explained. “I need to do something else to position myself for the future. I’ve got a wife and two kids, so what am I going to do?”
These questions along with the support of his colleagues and command led Boyer to night classes through the University of Maryland. Balancing work, school and home life wasn’t always an easy task, but the young scholar’s mind was set on earning a degree as well as joining the ranks of his early Marine Corps influences.
“After the impact warrant officers had in my career, I wanted to be that technical expert in the (aviation logistics) field,” said Boyer. “Becoming a warrant officer was very important to me.”
After attaining a bachelor’s in sociology as a staff sergeant in 1994, Boyer returned to his first and favorite duty station to work at the family service center. His experiences helping others through his work, completing his master’s in management, and his selection for warrant officer made his time here “one of the best tours I’ve ever had in the Marine Corps.”
“I got trained in another area outside my MOS, and it really opened my eyes,” he said. “It really changed me and my mentality as far as dealing with people, especially people from different cultures.”
For several years, Boyer had also been teaching English to Japanese locals both on and off base. Throughout his career colleagues had encouraged him to pursue this interest, something he finally decided to do while stationed in Miramar.
“I started going to night school again for my doctorate in education,” said Boyer. “I never neglected my responsibilities as a full-time Marine because that was my full-time job, but I had educational goals I wanted to accomplish.”
These goals would prove to be the most difficult yet. Along with the heavy course load came added financial responsibilities due to his recent promotion to warrant officer.
“As an officer I had to think about what was going to pay for this doctorate,” Boyer said. “Although it ended up being very expensive, it was worth it for me.”
After 22 years of service in the Marine Corps, Boyer finally retired in 2003 and one year later completed his doctorate degree. With his excellent education and military credentials he secured a high-paying job for a San Diego company as a financial analyst. It would seem everything was working out perfectly in Boyer’s life, but something was still missing.
“The money was great, but at that time I wasn’t personally satisfied with the job I was doing, I wasn’t happy,” he said. “I actually walked away from a very good paying job because I really wanted to get back to my profession of teaching.”
Returning to the classroom wasn’t Boyer’s only ambition – he also sorely missed the island he called home for so many years. One day while on vacation in Okinawa, Boyer walked into a University of Phoenix office and expressed his interest to teach in Japan. Shortly thereafter he was working at the University’s Yokota Air Force Base Campus, and about five months ago transferred to Iwakuni to teach and recruit faculty members.
Boyer loves his life in Japan as much now as he did when first stationed here. He is remarried to a native of Hiroshima, and their proximity to her hometown as well as his infatuation with the local culture is most likely to keep him here for years to come.
“I literally jumped at the opportunity to come back … Iwakuni is a model installation,” he said. “I left here 10 years ago, and since I’ve come back the changes are dynamic.”
Skeptics may hear Boyer’s story and think his kind of success is unattainable, but any of his students will argue otherwise. Boyer helped organize the University of Phoenix Master of Business Administration course here, and class members are following his lead in paving the way toward their own futures.
“Dr. Boyer is great,” said 2nd Lt. Eric D. Pierce, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 aircraft maintenance officer and Detroit native. “It’s nice having him because he has the military experience to relate to us, but he also has the experience in the civilian world.”
“I’d always wanted to get my master’s, and I knew if I put it off it would take forever, so I started right up here” he added. “Like Dr. Boyer, I’d like to get my doctorate too.”
Chief Warrant Officer Brian DeBree, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12 quality assurance officer and Toms River, N.J., native, is finding himself on a similar path as Boyer. The newest faculty member at the University of Phoenix, DeBree shares Boyer’s experience in the Marine Corps and love for teaching and plans on using these skills when he retires.
“(Boyer) has to be one of the best facilitators I’ve ever seen,” said DeBree, who holds an MBA. “It’s been great working with him through the university, and I really try to emulate him in the classroom.”
Boyer will be the first to tell someone retiring as a chiefwarrant officer or earning a doctorate isn’t something that will happen overnight, but it is something any service member here can aspire to.
“The Marine Corps provides great training and great structure, and off-duty education will only supplement that,” said Boyer. “Take advantage of the opportunities given to you.”
“Coming from Cleveland I could have done anything,” he said with his proud grin. “All you have to do is take that first step.”