Yesterday was John’s promotion ceremony, so he now officially is a USMC Captain! Technically, he was promoted on  May 1st, but he waited until his ceremony to officially wear the Captain rank.

His brother PD was able to get a day off from Navy Nuclear Power School (a complete rarity, as it is a very intense school) to attend. His girlfriend, Andrea, came with him as well, and we all had a great day.

Here are the guys, all dressed up in the uniform of the day.

(One of John’s Marines took these photos for us, and she did such a great job!)

The promotion was bright and early at 0800, but it was a beautiful day with temperatures already around 70 degrees.

It was a pretty quick ceremony, over within probably 10 minutes, but meaningful.

They started with morning colors (which happens every morning at 8am), and then the promotion began.

The Master Sergeant read John’s Promotion Warrant,

And then PD and I had the honor of pinning his bars on.
(No, neither of us “punched” the bars in, for those of you who are curious) ;)

Then he took the Oath of Office,

And received his promotion warrant.

His promoting Officer said a few words,

And then John addressed his Marines (the ones that aren’t still over in Iraq) as well.

We all are so proud of our family’s new Captain!

I’m glad his promotion came up after he returned home from Iraq, so I could attend. He probably won’t be promoted again (the next rank is Major) for around 6 years.

There are a few more pictures here.