There are about 50 observant Jews in the U.S. military, and I am one of them.

I was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and my parents, sister and I emigrated to Seattle in 1976. My family wasn’t observant, but I spent summers at a Jewish day camp and we occasionally attended Seattle's Chabad House during the holidays.

As a kid I always wanted to serve my country. I am very disciplined by nature, and don’t like to do anything half-heartedly, so I decided to join the best fighting force in the world, the United States Marines.

The typical Jewish reaction was: "What's a nice Jewish boy doing in the Marines?" My parents, who escaped the USSR to save me from having to serve in the Soviet military, thought I was crazy.

I showed them. On February 8, 1989, four days after my eighteenth birthday, I shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.

On the third day of boot camp, we were sitting in formation when a mean drill instructor (they are all mean) approached the platoon and barked, "All my Jews, stand up."

I thought to myself, "here we go, the persecution of the Jews is about to begin." Out of 87 recruits, I was the only one to stand up. He ordered me to report to a Major standing off in the distance, which I nervously did.

I saluted and said, "Sir, Private Ekshtut reporting as ordered, Sir!" I will never forget what he said to me. "Do you know that you are one tenth of one percent of all of Marines in the Marine Corps?" He introduced himself as Major Goldberg or some similar Jewish name, and explained that only one in a thousand Marines is Jewish. He then invited me to attend Friday night services at the nearby Navy chapel. I accepted.

I served overseas in exotic locations like Okinawa, Korea, the Philippines, and Bangladesh. During the first Gulf War, I was deployed for seven months on a Navy ship in the Middle East. That winter, I lit Chanukah candles in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

After four years of active duty, I continued to serve one weekend a month and two weeks a year in the Marine Reserves. After graduating college as a civil engineer, I spent a few months in Israel to learn more about Jewish life. After several years of learning, I went to synagogue every Shabbat, put on tefillin every morning, and tried to keep kosher.

The only time I couldn’t keep the Sabbath was during my monthly weekend duty in the Reserves. Not that it wasn't allowed - on the contrary. The more observant I became, the more supportive they were. I lit candles and made Kiddush in the barracks on Friday nights and my friends would even do "labors" prohibited for me on the Sabbath.

But in the Reserves, Saturday is the main training day. I had to make a decision: leave my beloved Marine Corps or stay in the Marines and be lenient one weekend a month. After nearly 13 years of service, I left the military to keep Shabbat.

Much of what I learned in the Marines has made me a better Jew. Jewish observance is similar to military training, except you don't have to sweat as much or crawl in the mud. For me, becoming observant was an easy transition.

Being a Marine taught me self-discipline and responsibility, how to answer to a "higher authority," the value of teamwork, family and community, pride and self-esteem. Being charged by the real Commander-in-Chief, to wake up early and put on tefillin, keep kosher, and interact with the Jewish community, we acquire qualities similar to those in the military.

One day when G-d grants me a son, would I want him to join the military? In both good Jewish and military tradition, I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

My more immediate objective now is to find my soulmate. However, I know that if my future son serves in the military, he'll become a better man and a better servant of G-d because of it.

Mikhail Ekshtut is a Civil Engineer in Seattle and Chaplain Assistant in the Air Force Reserve.