Honoring Our Veterans - Janet Wagner
Author: Matt Nelson
Honoring Our Veterans - Janet Wagner
Matt Nelson
Janet (Strobel) Wagner is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. She considers the time she spent in the Marine Corps important. She enlisted in May 1978 and went to boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, where all the women were sent at that time. She worked as a 4063 COBOL Programmer. After training in Quantico, Virginia, located near Washington, D.C., she received orders to the Marine Corps Air Base in Iwakuni, Japan, with the 3rd Marine Division. She worked at the 6th Force Automated Service Center (6th FASC) in her position as a COBOL programmer. She spent a year and a half in Iwakuni and then received orders back to Quantico.
Janet laughed as she said, “We had punch cards, IBM 360/40 computers, reel-to-reel tape storage, it was the old school days! Japanese ladies did the key punching for us. It was 1979, we were still using card readers and paper tape.
They also taught her how to do JCL (job control language) optimization. Which consisted of adjusting values of computer resources; CPU, memory and storage. She would run a job, check the stats on the job, and adjust the amount of CPU (Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory) that the job would allocate before it ran to make sure that the job used the hardware to the best of its ability.
Janet's first husband was also a Marine. She had gotten out of the Marines in November of 1980. In 1983 he received PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders to Camp Pendleton, California.
Janet worked at San Onofre nuclear power plant while attending Cuesta College. She earned an AS in Electronic Technology in 1989. After graduating from Cuesta College, she got a job in Central California at Fort Hunter Liggett, one of four bases operated under the Army in the state of California, and she also worked for the State of CA Dept of Corrections as an electronic technician and a computer maintenance technician. As an electronic technician at SVSP (Salinas Valley State Prison), she was responsible for all the electronic equipment at the facility, such as fire systems, personal alarm systems, cable T.V. and telephones. She has worked with many types of computer systems and software programs as well.
In 1999 Janet accepted a position at the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), located in Seaside, California. Among other tasks she was responsible for handling classified documents, which ultimately led her to a project at the National Security Agency (NSA) in Maryland.
The Marine Corps recognizes a military social organization called the Marine Corps League, of which Janet is a member. In June 2021, she received the Distinguished Service Award, Department Marine of the Year Award, which reads, “For Service and Devotion to the Department of Montana – Marine Corps League Your service exemplifies the traditions of the Marine Corps League and the United States Marine Corps, living up to our motto, ‘Semper Fidelis’.” With that award, she received an NCO sword. She has the award and the sword mounted on a wall in their home. Included on their military wall of fame is a plaque, which reads, “6th Force Automated Service Center” and in the center are the words Iwakuni, Japan. At the bottom of the plaque are the words “Cpl Janet I. Robin 1Nov 78 – 15 May 80 "Shortest Rat”. The rest of 3rd Mar Div call the digit heads of 6th FASC “Rats”.
Today she and her husband Tony do volunteer work at Trailhead Christian Church and the American Legion Post 42 here in Townsend.
Thank you for all of your service, both in the Marine Corps and for your civilian jobs, Janet. Semper Fi!
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PhotoCredit: See captions
Image 1 Caption: Janet Stobel in Marine Boot Camp.
Photo Credit: Janet Wagner
Image 2 Caption: Janet and her 6th Force Automated Service Center Award
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
