JACK RODGERS

After graduating from high school, Bevan forwent college and began piecing together different elements of work in an attempt to build a financial future. He worked for a vending company at an amusement park and found opportunities to begin climbing the management ladder at Pottery Barn.
 

“I learned the entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
 

Despite his drive, Bevan felt he was still underperforming to his potential. When spending time with friends who had made other decisions, jealousy welled inside him.

“I was very jealous and disappointed in myself that I hadn’t taken a traditional path through life,” he said. “It was painful.”

The realization that he would not be able to progress any further on his current trajectory without a college degree forced him to reevaluate his goals.

“I want to do right by my parents,” he said. “It’s a fundamental part of who I am.”

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Bevan is named after his grandfather, who died just before he joined the military. As a pilot, 2nd Lt. Duncan Bevan broke the sound barrier in an F-86 Sabre jet only a few months after Capt. Chuck Yeager famously became the first in 1947. His grandfather was recognized with a wallet-sized card that reads, “Mach Buster’s Club.”
 

When Bevan was 23, he reconnected with a friend who was about to join the Army.
 

“I proceeded to talk this guy’s ear off for an hour and a half on why he’s making the best decision of his life,” he said.
 

After their conversation ended close to midnight, Bevan returned to his car in an empty parking lot. Sparsely placed street lamps flickered overhead. He sat behind the wheel in silence.
 

“I just explained to this guy for an hour why he’s making a fantastic decision with his life and here I am wondering what I need to do,” Bevan thought to himself. “I just told him what I needed to tell myself.”
 

The following year, Bevan approached graduation from the Defense Information School with training as an Air Force photojournalist. When the time came to review the orders for his first duty station, he sat down at a computer and logged on with his mom and dad on the phone in a nervous excitement. When the orders populated on screen they read, Minot, North Dakota.
The cold, remote conditions of Minot hardly make it many people’s first choice.
 

“It was 30 seconds of on the phone silence with my Mom and Dad,” he said.
 

A week before his graduation from DINFOS, Bevan decided to take one last look at his orders, not expecting anything to have changed. Much to his surprise, the line now read, Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. He was going to the 1st Combat Camera Squadron for which he had applied months before.
 

Combat camera sent Bevan on a cascade of demanding training and travel for the next three and a half years. As he prepared for a role as an aerial combat photojournalist, Bevan familiarized himself with aircraft, tested in an altitude chamber and learned survival, evasion, resistance and escape skills.
 

Days before completing his final flight qualifications, Bevan’s commander pulled him aside and asked, “Can you go to England in three days?”
 

“Yes sir, I can do that,” he replied.
“Alright, its going to be about two months,” the commander said. “You can do that?”
 

“Yeah, I can do that,” Bevan replied again.
 

“It was a perfect indicator for what the next 3.5 years of my life were going to look like: quick turnarounds, high pressure and a good time,” he said.

Bevan deployed twice, each for six months, and traveled to 11 countries with combat camera. He has had nearly 20 temporary duties for exercises, operations and other training. The cycle of travel and extended periods of time away from home put a strain on Bevan’s relationship, ultimately ending in separation.
 

“It didn’t allow me to live in the present, which sucks,” he said. “When you’re doing awesome things… ain’t no time like the present.”