We Are All Brothers and Sisters Here

At 18 years old, Rowan Smark, already had an accomplished equestrian career before she enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Now, with the help of her team, she communicates across the country to manage both her horses’ well-being and her own military training.

By Rowan Stark

In the equestrian world, I showed for six years as a working student. I have two horses, and they're currently with my trainer back home in California. I've been to national championships and Gold Star clinics. I've been a part of the Emerging Athletes program. I've had the opportunity to travel to Italy and experience a lot of different new cultures there.

I've had the opportunity to train with lots of amazing trainers. Currently, I train in Los Angeles, California, where I earned my first national championship in the 1.10 and 1.15 division with my horse Thomas, or Cava’s Boy. We went to another national championship in 2023, and I showed in the low juniors with my new horse, Ludovica. We won the low junior speed, and then an open 1.10 class with around 60 competitors.

While I was at Michigan State University, I did the ROTC program. I absolutely loved the program. I think I loved it so much that it kind of got in the way of my focuses for college. There was always something that drew me into the Marine Corps, and so I dropped out of college early January 2024 and enlisted in the Marine Corps on January 31. Right now, I have a five-year contract in the Marine Corps, so I'll be traveling for the next five years. And then, I have a three-year reserve contract after that. I'm planning on staying in the Marine Corps for 20 years, but we’ll see how it goes.

What really drew me in to the Marine Corps was the sense of service. There was something inside of me that compelled me to want to go and do this for myself, for my country, for my family, for my friends. There's something that I need to prove to myself and something I want to show the world that I can do, especially going into a field where there's little to no women. It's something that I want to prove that we can do.

Currently, I'm at the School of Infantry in North Carolina. I'm in an infantry training battalion, and I plan to graduate on August 22. Right now, I'll come out as an O311, which is an infantry rifleman.

Being here showed me how important the camaraderie is between all of us. We’re all brothers and sisters here. Considering I'm currently the only girl in my company, it's kind of hard to find that sisterhood, but through boot camp I did have 44 girls in my platoon, and I was able to be their guide. I was an honor graduate in boot camp; there were six honor graduates out of about 300 recruits, and I was the only girl that got an honor graduate spot.

My dreams for the future are big. Once my training is completed, I plan on completing my degree online, potentially in criminal justice. Right now, my biggest focus though is completing the schools and the training. I have dreams to go to Air Assault school, Combat Dive school, Jungle Warfare, and Ranger school. That will probably take up the next two to three years.

Right now, my horses are in California, and I'm in North Carolina. Due to my training schedules, I do not have any shows coming up or anything like that. I have a lot of different goals: eventually, I want to become an officer in the Marine Corps. I'm hoping if I get the chance to go to California for a reconnaissance training course, I’ll be able to visit my horses and my team.

I consider my team my family; they've done everything for me. There are girls that show my horses in the little county shows, and I'm thankful for that. I really don't know what I would do without my team back home to take care of my horses. They're the backbone support.

Photos: Andrew Ryback Photography and Lindsey Long Photography