My name is Marshall Stephen Kulp. I was born in Bloomington, Indiana on September 30, 1984. My parents divorced when I was three years old. My mother gained custody of me and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. Throughout my childhood, I competed in athletics: baseball, swimming, soccer, football, wrestling, track and field and cross country. During high school, I lettered in 12 Varsity sports in four years and won various Conference, City, and multiple team tournaments in Cross Country, Wrestling, and Track. Academically, I fared well, earning a Cumulative 3.7 GPA and becoming a Who’s Who Among High School students. After graduation, I attended Indiana University. There, I signed up for the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) between the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) and the Indiana National Guard. This program took the financial stress off my parents by paying my college tuition, providing me a monthly stipend, and military training. After graduating college, I entered the US Army as a Second Lieutenant. I received transportation training and was then stationed in Germany. Soon after, I deployed to Iraq. In March 2011, after serving 3 ½ years in the US Army, I resigned my commission and became a civilian. Soon after, I moved from Indianapolis to Denver, Colorado where I landed a summer job as a Park Ranger for the Colorado State Park Service and pursued a wildland fire fighting position as an intern with SCA’s Veterans’ Fire Corp (VFC). I am now a member of the VFC.
