Rouse carries on family tradition with service in the U.S. Navy

Joe Marshall Rouse

Joe Marshall Rouse, a Piggott native, is currently stationed at the Lackland Air Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he is receiving his "A" school training in law enforcement and anti-terrorism.

Rouse, the 21-year-old son of Rodney and Kim Rouse, is a 2006 graduate of Piggott High School and a junior at the University of Arkansas.

Rouse volunteered for service in the U.S. Navy in the summer of 2009 and reported for duty at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, in Great Lakes, Ill., in September. While in boot camp he served as weapons petty office and graduated Nov. 25.

Rouse will graduate as a Master At Arms in the Navy Security Forces and plans to return to the U of A this fall to complete his degree. After graduation he will serve in the Navy Reserve at the Little Rock Air Force Base at Jacksonville. He has been attached to the U.S. Air Base in Souda Bay, Crete, Greece, where he will serve when and if he is called to active duty.

Rouse is following in the footsteps of his grandfathers, Joe Bellers and Junior Rouse, who both volunteered and served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He is also following in the tradition of service shown him by Bill Wilcox, who was like a third grandfather to Joe, and served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne of the U.S. Army during World War II.