Austin Campbell's Introduction

Greetings all,

                My name is Austin Campbell and I’m a senior BCJ major.  I will complete my degree this summer at the conclusion of this course and Criminal Justice Stats.  I have taken a rather unconventional path to completing my degree which has taken me almost 20 years. You may so wow! What took you so long bro? Well it’s called a life lived full of interesting times and learning from those times which has enhanced my overall college experience.

                Let me start from the beginning, I graduated from high school in 1992 and went to a local community college in Mesquite Texas for a few semesters with no real goal and feeling restless. That’s when I ran into an old friend who had enlisted in the United States Coast Guard (USCG).  That chance meeting changed my life. I immediately located a recruiter and started my journey in the USCG and after boot camp found myself stationed here in New Orleans at the old historic light house on Lake Pontchartrain.  It was here in New Orleans where I met my wife of 13 years who had just completed her master’s degree in Speech Pathology.

                From New Orleans I left for Elizabeth City North Carolina where I attended the USCG’s Aviation Training Center for Aviation Electronics Technician where I graduated as a Third Class petty Officer.  Afte graduation I received orders to Borinquen Puerto Rico to USCG Air Station Borinquen.  There I qualified as a Flight Mechanic on the HH65 Dolphin and began flying as an air crewman.   In Borinquen out mission was maritime search and rescue, drug and immigration interdiction.  After three years in Borinquen saving lives and busting drug runners at sea, I received orders to Air station New Orleans.

                Back in New Orleans, My wife and I bought our first home in Old Metiaire and I began duty in the USCG’s busiest aviation search and rescue unit. Shortly after reporting to AirSta NOLA, I was advanced to Petty Officer second class.  It was at this time that I started thinking about a new career as a commercial pilot and was making plans to exit the USCG until that dreadful day of September  11.  It was that day that I knew that the USCG is where I belonged.  It was at this time that I also started on my road to a criminal justice degree and began taking classes at Delgado Community College.  I would work stand duty at nights and go to school all day taking about 12 hours.  I transferred to Loyola shortly before completing my associates’ degree and began working on my bachelor degree.  It was also at this time that I applied for a commission as an Officer in the USCG.

                In April of 2005, while on deployment in the Caribbean, I found out that I had been accepted to Officer Candidate School (OCS).  It was shaping up to be a great year, I had just been accepted to OCS, sold and bought a home, and was expecting the birth of my second child The Bam! Hurricane Katrina and like many others we lost everything.  I would fly over the city day in and day out the days after as the water receded from my home and many others.  In January of that year, all things considered I had to make the agonizing decision to leave my family for the USCG Academy in New London Connecticut.  

                I graduated from OCS received orders to Memphis Tennessee where I served for three years as an emergency preparedness and contingency planner/ law enforcement intelligence officer.  After my three year tour, I received orders back to New Orleans and new I had to return to Loyola to complete my degree.  So that’s me in a nut shell and answers the question of my long journey to my completing my BCJ degree.