Class of 1998

1998 Class Directory

Dean Gable

Salem OR

[email protected]

I am working as a bridge engineer.

Blue & Gold Spotlight on Brian Paul Huysman

Brian Paul Huysman
Major, United States Marine Corps Infantry Officer
The Ohio State University, BA, 2002
Delphos St. John's, 1998

After completing my degree from The Ohio State University in June of 2002, I was commissioned a Second Lieutenant (2ndLT) in the Marine Corps in June 2002. I then attended the Officer Basic Course and Infantry Officer Course in Quantico, Virginia, learning skills in basic officership, leadership, and infantry tactics. In May of 2003 I was assigned as a platoon commander to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (1/5), an infantry battalion in Camp Pendleton, California just north of San Diego.
I deployed first to Okinawa, Japan in December 2003 then to Iraq in March of the following year. While in Iraq, I lead my platoon of 43 Marines in the First Battle of Fallujah. We returned to California that July and immediately began preparations for our next deployment, back to Iraq, in February of 2005. When I completed that deployment, I was assigned to the Marine Corps' west-coast infantry school, the School of Infantry West (SOI), on Camp Pendleton.

My assignment to SOI was from mid-2006 to mid-2008. I held several billets in leadership and in planning, expanding skills I had learned over my previous four years of service. I completed my assignment and I attended an advanced infantry school with the United States Army at Fort Benning, Georgia. I then returned to Camp Pendleton in early 2009 for a second tour with 1/5.

My second tour with 1/5 had me assigned as a company commander, where I led over 160 Marines on two deployments to Afghanistan, one each in 2009 and 2011. In 2012 I was assigned a position as an operations and planning officer with the 1st Marine Division Headquarters on Camp Pendleton. Later that year I moved to my current position, as a Defense Fellow in Washington D. C. detailed to the personal office of Senator Jack Reed, the senior Senator from Rhode Island.

This is a very quick summary of over 11 years of active service as a Marine. Along the way I worked alongside the best men I have ever been around. Put in extraordinary circumstance, I saw amazing acts of sheer will and courage. These acts were not always under fire. More often than not, I witnessed one Marine helping another in the most normal of daily struggle.

What I have witnessed thus far is a type of brotherhood that has been amazing to be a part of. It has been a community which I found easy to relate to, and an absolute honor to be a part of. It has been a community I know I would not have been able to function in had it not been for my beginnings in Delphos.

The foundation of who I have become was set during my early years at St. John's. The community I was a part of, my family who supported me, and the education (both spiritual and literal) I gained, all gave me the knowledge, judgment, and skills to be successful later in life. Delphos St. John's was a community, family, and education that challenged, nurtured, and taught me right from wrong. I learned respect, discipline, and how to be a good person.

My time in Delphos was not perfect, though I believe that growing up should not be. I was given the tools to succeed while at the same time put in situations where I needed to use my judgment.
Once leaving Delphos, the challenges became greater and the consequences of my decisions increased with each passing year. My foundation that was formed in Delphos has allowed me to continue to be successful.

Brian and his wife Michelle reside in Virginia with their two children William and Alexandra. Brian is the son of Ron and Barb Huysman of Delphos.