'1775' snaps in his head every time.

When Purchasing Agent Brad Grohman calls Tony Ashcraft from St. Louis, the extension 1779 appears on Tony’s phone. When he sees it, the number 1775 strikes a major chord with Tony instantaneously ... not unlike the opening strain of Sousa's "Semper Fedelis."

1775 is the year the Marine Corps was founded.

History — both learning from it and honoring it — is imperative in the Marines and in the military at large. It’s a valuable preparation tool for future missions. It’s something to take stock in, something to celebrate. As a Marine Corps and Air Force Veteran, emotions run deep for Tony as we approach our 244th Independence Day – in the same way that a mere phone extension ignites a sense of pride.

“History is so ingrained in all of us who have served. In Boot Camp, we would spend an hour a day going through military history. If you ignore it, it’s bound to repeat itself,” Tony said. “The Continental Marines, the predecessor to today’s Marine Corps, were actually the Naval Infantry Force during the American Revolution.”

The chord that strikes with Tony every Fourth of July rings louder than even the noisiest backyard firecrackers. It’s a passion, and a sense of purpose, that those like Tony who’ve served our country feel every day.

But certainly on the day of our National Independence.

At first, Tony joined the Marine Corps for one reason.

Out of high school with not a lot of money, Tony was literally scraping the scum off of boats when a recruiter visited him. No way would he join the military, Tony recalls saying.

“Within two or three months, I joined the program,” Tony says. ‘To be honest, I was hoping at the time to get some college classes and hopefully earn a degree.”

Tony completed his basic Training at MCDR San Diego in December 1998, and went to the School of Infantry in Jan. 1999 at Camp Pendleton.

He then transferred to The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC), also known as 29 Palms, where he joined the 1st Battalion 7th Marines. In his four years, Tony did multiple tours in Okinawa, with exercises in Thailand, Korea and mainland Japan. Utilizing, again, the history of the Korean war, they would complete training exercises deep into the jungle.

“We’d get a topographical map, a red lens flashlight, and you were told to go find this mailbox in the middle of the jungle (at night), and come back with the number on it,” Tony says.

They also helped train allies in each of the countries he visited.

“We were showing them that this is what the Marines endured, that’s what we trained for. We were teaching the allies the same things we had learned,” Tony says.

Back in California, Tony endured Combined Arms Exercises (CAX), which incorporated infantry tanks and air support doing specifically Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUNT) Training. They worked in desert environments, with makeshift hotels, residences, and underground sewer systems. This was from 2000-2002.

“Our leadership was preparing us for what might be happening, with regards to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Tony says. “When I look back on these experiences – when you’re in it’s such a mental and physical struggle. But once you’re done, it’s such a sense of satisfaction. You know that you could do it if you had to do it again.

Tony left the Marine Corps in September 2002. The next month, he joined the Air Force.

“I found a very small window where I could transfer, so my wife and I were both thinking, ‘let’s see if we can hit it.’ I was hoping to get more college credits, and my wife and I really wanted to be closer to home.”
After a class at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Tony was transferred to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. There he would serve as a Communications Project Manager. Just as the Ashcrafts were settling in, he received new orders – to Wyoming.

“The only thing I knew about Cheyenne was that George Strait wrote a song about it!” Tony says. “It was definitely not on my radar. I remember my wife broke down crying. But there we were, shipping off to Wyoming. And when I look back on it now, those were some of the best years of our lives.”

Tony’s initial job was to make sure communications were being properly upgraded throughout base facilities, rerunning communications lines to silos when missiles were switched out. When there was a change of commanders within Tony’s 90th communication squadron, the new commander presented him with a new task.

“Weren’t you in the Marine Corps?’” he recalls being asked. Tony said, ‘Yes sir, I was.’

“Well, I want you as my Unit Deployment Manager (UDM).”

Tony was charged with getting all the gear and people ready to deploy out of their unit to Iraq and Afghanistan. He also led multiple other process-oriented projects, which certainly helped craft the logistics expertise he owns today.

One of the most rewarding involved a train track that happened to run through the middle of the base – each time a train came by, it would have to stop and be escorted through the base. Tony, working with multiple agencies and fortune 500 companies, strategically set up a system where trains could go through securely but unimpeded, saving the BNSF Railway $10,000 a day.

Tony also got that education that he set out for to begin with.

“I was able to ultimately earn my Associates and my Bachelor’s and, after leaving the Air Force, earn my Masters in Business Communications Project Management,” he says.

After departing the military, he became Branch Manager for a physical security company in Arkansas. Within two years he went from running one branch to running three and managing all of Southern Arkansas. Tony joined the Datamax team in 2011 and has since lead the Arkansas warehouse and logistics teams.

All the while, the impact of his military service never wanes. The pride that he feels never softens. And every Fourth of July, there’s a few things that Tony likes to celebrate.

He celebrates the service of all who came before him (including his father and grandfathers), and all who are enlisted now.

He celebrates the history. He considers all that has happened for our great country to be where it’s at today. His honest opinion – “we’re still absolutely the best country in the world, humongous strides have been put in motion to secure each one of our freedoms.”

He also celebrates the sacrifice. And not just the sacrifice of death, he says.

“Those eight years I served are years I can’t get back. That’s time I could have been with my mom, or my dad who died of cancer in 2018,” Tony says. “It takes a special person to put on that uniform. And that’s one thing my family will talk about this Fourth of July: This is a day we can all wave an American flag, and be happy, and stop to say ‘Thanks.’”