By Rachel Kalina
Eberhart, 18, will start boot camp in Michigan and subsequent training in either California or Mississippi in order to become a full member of the Navy's Construction Battalion, or CB. Although he graduated from Baldwin Senior High School in June, he has been working since then and plans to gain his college education while serving in the Navy for the next five years.
"The Navy provides modern conveniences and services to our troops," explained Maggie Eberhart, Joseph's mother. "CBs are one of the most respected Naval Battalions."
CBs follow U.S. troops to where they are stationed and build bases, barriers and other infrastructure for them. They also go to areas where a natural disaster has caused an apparent need for relief, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or the tsunami that rocked Southern Asia in 2004.
Maggie said the Baldwin family's neighbor - a U.S. Marine - had expressed enthusiasm upon finding out Joseph would become a CB. She said the construction battalion provides the first signs of normalcy for troops abroad when they construct things like showers and camp bases.
"I've been very handy throughout my life," Joseph said of why he wanted to do carpentry for the Navy. "I'm more of a hands-on person than a book person."
His uncle is also a carpenter and a source of inspiration for Joseph, along with his father, Doug, who works in construction as an operating engineer of heavy equipment. Since he was a child, Joseph said, he has helped his dad to build and fix items in their own house. Mom added that he was operating a Bobcat bulldozer at a young age as well.
Joseph's affinity for building was also apparent in his involvement in the high school's stage crew. He said that although he was a good student, he wasn't very academically oriented during his time there, because he didn't find his classes - even ones like physics or chemistry - to be enough of a challenge. Of course, he said he did enjoy his architecture and technology classes.
Mom said she knows the Navy will keep Joseph focused in addition to giving him a good education. Joseph also values these aspects of joining the Navy, and said he plans to fall back on them when he encounters tough situations overseas.
"I just know I'll have full control over what I'm doing," he said of how he will handle his job if he is sent to a war zone like Iraq. "I try not to focus on the negative. I'm not scared of going there, but you see a lot on the news about it. I shouldn't be in too many combat situations."
Maggie, a daughter and a sister of U.S. Marines, said she was happy that her son didn't want to be a U.S. Navy Seal or Marine.
"I understand his commitment but there's only so much sacrifice I'm willing to make," she said, making it clear that she would not have allowed her son, who needed her permission when he signed up as a minor, to join the U.S. Marines or Army. "It's what he wants, and I'm just as happy," she added of his decision to become a CB. "We have a definite fear that he would be going overseas to Iraq, Kuwait or Afghanistan, but those barracks have to be built."
A large part of what helps to keep the Eberharts focused when they consider the possibility of Joseph's deployment to Iraq is their faith, Maggie said. The Eberhart family, which also includes Joseph's younger siblings, Matt, Elizabeth and Brian, regularly attend St. Peter's Lutheran church.
On some level, Maggie is also used to having some of her family risk their lives on a regular basis - both her husband and Joseph are Baldwin Fire Fighters. Doug has been involved with the department for over a decade, and Joseph was a junior fire fighter for the past four years, until the day he turned 18 in May and became a full-fledged volunteer. He knew many fire fighters who had responded to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, another motivating factor in his decision to join the Navy.
"I just want to make sure things like that don't happen and I want to do my part to keep the country secure," he said of why he joined. "I wanted to do something different, travel and be able to gain new experiences."
