The following is about 1979 St. Albert graduate Tim Pierson. We're sure he's a stalbertsportsfan!

YUMA, Ariz. - In the past 26 months, Marine Lt. Col. Tim Pierson has been in Iraq - 16 months - more than he has been stateside.

Even with the three deployments that total 16 months, Pierson said it's likely he'll do a fourth tour in Iraq before the year is over.

"It'd make life a lot easier if I had an apartment over there," Pierson, a native of Council Bluffs, said, "but this is the way the military is nowadays."

Pierson is stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., but is the commanding officer for Marine Air Control Group 38, or MACS-1, in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. He returned to the U.S. on March 3.

Pierson is going on 22 years in the Marine Corps and will test for "full-bird" colonel in September. All signs, he said, that he's not ready to retire.

"I'm still having fun," he said. "I'm not ready to grow up yet."

More than 2,500 miles apart, Pierson looks forward to the day when he and his wife and children can live in the same state.

"They're still in Virginia Beach (Va.)," he said. "They've established there - jobs, sports, boyfriends, girlfriends. For me to bring them out here would defeat the purpose, since I'm gone so much."

The colonel was isolated from his family in Arizona and wished for a friendly face. He found it in Master Gunnery Sgt. Richard Williams.

A year ago, Pierson had recently returned to Arizona from Iraq when Williams walked up and introduced himself to the colonel.

"We started chatting," Pierson said of his conversation with the gunny (a nickname commonly given to gunnery sergeants). "Then he mentioned that he was from Council Bluffs."

That caught Pierson off-guard.

"I said, 'I'm from Council Bluffs too.' He said, 'No kidding!' It was really cool."

Immediately, the two bonded, though Pierson doesn't recall meeting Williams when they both lived in Iowa.

"I'm sure our paths crossed," he said. "Council Bluffs isn't that big of a city."

Being in conditions such as Iraq bring out the best and worst in an individual, Williams said, but Pierson never embodied a "Semper Me" attitude.

"There are those who use their rank to first benefit everyone else, often at times at their own personal sacrifice... Lt. Col. Pierson is a leader in this category," Williams said of his commanding officer.

Williams said he and Pierson found out they had even more in common. Both worked as newspaper delivery boys for The Daily Nonpareil in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

"We both helped to spread the good news around town by throwing The Nonpareil at people's porches, in bushes and under cars," he said.

The two also began trash-talking about each other's alma mater. Pierson graduated from St. Albert High School in 1979, while Williams graduated from Thomas Jefferson in 1976.

"It's grown from there, busting on each other in terms of (school) rivalries," Pierson said.

"Don't let him feed you any baloney about T.J. being an inferior school," Williams said, adding a reminder that Pierson is to go skydiving with him upon Williams' return to the United States.

The colonel stated he had no desire to jump out of an airplane again.

"Nope," Pierson said. "No way."

Several months ago, Williams, who is a MACS-1 communications/electronic chief, completed his seventh and final re-enlistment while plummeting to Earth at 120 mph with Pierson, who issued the oath.

Williams, a seasoned skydiver with 620 jumps to his credit, jumped solo, while Pierson jumped tandem with Chief Warrant Officer Jay Stokes.

"There was no classroom training. There was no build up for me," Pierson said. "We went up there in that Cessna and jumped."

Pierson conceded he will probably let Williams talk him into it.

"That's the bad thing," Pierson said. "I'll end up doing it again."

Brien T. Boyce - Daily Nonpareil - 03.22.06