Page 3 - The Friday Flyer ● NOVEMBER 08, 2019

NOVEMBER 8, 2019 THE FRIDAY FLYER A-3
The hidden story of CL Pro Shop assistant

BY TED HORTON
CONTRIBUTOR, THE FRIDAY FLYER
Aaron grew up in Columbus, Ohio,
enjoying high school basketball and
football. There was no golf on the hori-
zon at the time.
Upon graduating from high school,
Aaron was motivated by the World
Trade Center tragedy to immediately en-
list in the U.S. Marine Corps where he
served for 12 years.
When I asked him to tell me some-
thing interesting about himself, he
seemed to be somewhat hesitant. “I
guess my story is kind of boring.” He
apologized. Really? Eight deployments
to Afghanistan and Iraq in 12 years of
service to our country could hardly have
been boring. Scary, perhaps, and surely
exciting at times.
Each of the tours were different and
each required a unique six-month train-
ing period or preparation prior to de-
ployment. He described his primary re-
sponsibility as a Marine Corps Security
Force member as often “The first boots
on the ground if there was an emergency
in any of our U.S. Embassies or U.S.
Marine ships throughout the world or a
natural disaster requiring U.S. humani-
tarian assistance.”
Aaron rose through the ranks of pla-
toon sergeant and section chief squad
leader overseeing weapon systems and
vehicle readiness. He was a five-time
expert rifle shooter, a martial arts in-
structor, a section chief for a howitzer
crew and a team leader for the Fleet An-
ti-terrorism Security Team. He also was
a program instructor for Close Quarters
Combat. Boring? I don’t think so.
Aaron is married to Bette, a claims
supervisor at Wawanesa Insurance. They
live in Murrieta and are proud parents of
two boys, six-year-old Marcus and two-
year-old Maddox. Marcus was born just
prior to Aaron’s eighth and last tour. He
admitted that it broke his heart to ship
out after his son was born.
Aaron’s years of military experience
leaves him well versed in leadership,
mentoring and accountability. He has
supervised hundreds of personnel, as
many as 50 at one time, while holding
positions directly responsible for career
deployments of his fellow Marines, as
well as 100 percent accountability for
equipment and supplies valued over
$17.5 million.
The Marine Corps has enabled Aaron
to travel the world, meet people who he
never expected to meet and make life- PHOTO PROVIDED BY AARON MCKAY
long friends. But, with a young family it
was time to become a civilian.
Following Aaron’s discharge from
the Marine Corps, he commuted to Golf Pro Shop Assistant Aaron McKay has served his country for 12 years.
Yuma, Arizona, where he utilized his
experiences to test weapons and military is to become a PGA professional or per- since May 2018 and really enjoys the to play twice a week and practice twice
equipment. During this time he was mo- haps a club manager. beautiful scenery, friendly people and a week. He currently holds a handicap
tivated by his older son’s love of swing- Continuing toward that goal, Aaron the mentoring from Pat. He enjoys the of eight.
ing a golf club to start to play himself. continues to practice to take the Player challenge of learning a new profession, Aaron uses his free time to hang out
As his interest in golf grew, Aaron de- Ability Test that will enable him to en- dealing with the public and the focus on with family. He has run four marathons
cided to attend the Professional Golfers ter the PGA apprentice program. He has customer service and pro shop manage- and two half-marathons and would love
Career College in Temecula where he worked for Pat Kemball, Director of ment. Aaron is pleased to see others en- to qualify to run the Boston Marathon if
earned an associate’s degree. His goal Golf at the Canyon Lake Country Club joying themselves at the club. He is able time permits.

THE FRIDAY FLYER

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