Lance Cpl. Polk did not always want to be a Marine, but she always wanted a challenge and the Corps would always provide one.
Katie Polk, a 25-year-old St. Louis native, is a military working dog handler with Marine Helicopter Squadron 1’s security unit. Polk joined the Corps because she had already accomplished everything else she wanted to do.
Polk’s mother, Patricia, said she was born the way she is. Polk was almost always ahead of the game, and it didn’t surprise her that she always looked for a challenge, her mother added.
“When she was just two years old, Katie spent an hour and a half one day buckling her belt and tying her shoes to master the art,” Patricia said. “When she was in high school, she bought a new car and financed it on her own. She’s always wanted to do her part.”
Polk had early lessons in leadership around her house, especially when the family had meetings to discuss family issues and bring up any problems they had with another family member. Each week there would also be an activity leader, one member of the family who decided what everyone would do.
Having an activity leader allowed everyone to get his turn to do what he wanted, and the family members did not have to split up and go their separate ways.
Her whole life, Polk has excelled at everything she set out to accomplish. Her mother said when she did a project in high school on K9 police dogs, Polk went on a ride-a-long and interviewed a female officer who worked with the dogs.
“Anything that interests her, she will investigate and research it until she knows everything about it,” her mother said. “She’s pretty cool like that.”
During her senior year, Polk did not know what she was going to do when she graduated. She loved school, but did not think she could afford college.
One day, Polk had forgotten an assignment and left school to go home to get it. In the short time she was home she also received a phone call that would alter the course of her life.
“Is this Katie Polk?” Polk recalled what she was told that day. “Katie, did you know someone nominated you for a scholarship? You are one of four kids from the state of Missouri chosen for this full-ride college scholarship.”
The Rosalie Tilles Fund scholarship allowed Polk to attend the University of Missouri, where she achieved a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science with a 3.5 grade point average. While in school, she worked at her goal of being in integrated technology management before she turned 25. She got a job at an energy trading company, called Aquila, as a desk support analyst. In 2002, she was laid off along with nearly a thousand other employees.
“What a horrible feeling,” Polk said. “But it taught me to appreciate everything I had in life and not to take it for granted because it could be gone tomorrow.”
She eventually had her dream; she got another job where she played a large role as one of few computer technicians. One day, her boss hired another technician who would work for her.
“That was it,” Polk said. “My five year goal was met. It was time for a new venture in life.”
Rather than setting more goals in the same field, Polk picked up side work. She said she really enjoyed a job as a caterer and she loved to cook, but she could not follow that path financially.
“My mind was tired,” Polk said. So she decided to use her skills to do something more physical.
Polk had in fact been quite the athlete. She started racing by running two 5-Kilometer races to benefit animal groups. She joined a gym after that and frequently went to the spin class. From there, she joined a local Team in Training. With the team, she did some fundraising and ran races to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Her first big race was Max-o-Mania, a series of five triathlons over three days in Innsbrook, Mo.
Polk put those physical and mental abilities to the test at bootcamp. What she thought would be a walk in the park, turned out to be what she calls “the most demotivating place” she has ever been.
“I’ve never seen so many people disagree and take small things so seriously,” Polk said. “It was rough. I tried to mentor some of those who struggled, but they didn’t want to be helped most of the time.”
The letters Polk sent home to her mother included notes to herself, to ensure she would not forget her memories from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. One thing she noted was getting in trouble for smiling in her photograph, something she paid for until graduation day. May 20, 2005 she finally got to go home to her family again.
“She was changed,” her mother said. “She acclimated to a structured environment. She was definitely a Marine.”
After bootcamp, it was off to Marine Combat Training in N.C., and Basic Military Police School in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
“I joined as an MP because I didn’t want monotony in my job,” Polk said.
She also mentioned the job satisfaction of just being a Marine in general, which made her previous work seem like “small potatoes.”
At MP school, Polk expressed an interest in working at HMX-1 or in a K9 program. She was screened and selected for HMX-1. She showed enough interest to be selected for the K9 program as well. Polk was determined to show that she was a charger and worked her hardest until she graduated Sept. 9, 2005. Polk was the honor graduate. She was meritoriously promoted to lance corporal and received two meritorious masts.
Polk’s next step was the Military Working Dog Handler’s Course in San Antonio, where she said she had the time of her life. In the second week of her class, the class leader, an E-5 from another service branch, was fired from his position and Polk was selected in his place. Polk said it was an actual struggle to get the class to listen. At the same time, she was studying harder than most others. She recalls one Marine telling her she could pass without studying at all, to which she replied, “studying this hard will make the difference of getting 100 percent vice 88, which is worth it to me.”
Her hard work paid off again; she was the honor graduate. She also received a challenge coin from an Air Force captain, and another coin and meritorious mast from the Marine chief warrant officer 4 at the joint services schoolhouse.
According to her top distinguished graduate award, Polk proved she could be depended upon, handle difficult assignments, and adapt to several types of dogs.
“Everything in that citation is true and accurate for Polk,” said Sgt. Morris Earnest, kennel master at HMX-1 security.
Polk even put together a slide show of photographs from K9 school to remember the times she had there. The presentation included music and would make people want to join that occupation, according to her mother.
Polk checked-in to Quantico Dec. 18, 2005 and is still challenging herself whenever she can.
She has been certified with her patrol and explosive detecting dog, Alex. Many people fail the certification the first time or just end up using a different dog because they do not work well with their first, Earnest said. Polk passed the test on her first try. The test consists of detecting explosive devices throughout a course within a set time limit.
“She’s pretty quick to pick up and knows her job to its full extent,” Earnest said. “(Polk and Alex) are a good team.”
Aside from her job, Polk attends functions for local Delayed Entry Programs and is a member of the Marine Corps Base Quantico Mountain Biking Team.
“If she’s not at work, then she’s off biking somewhere,” Earnest said.
Polk heard of the team through “the grape vine” at K9 school, so she researched it on the Internet. She contacted the team before she came to Quantico and was welcomed as their only female racer at the time.
Polk has recently received several awards in the beginner’s category of some local courses. Her morality and spirit have been tested in her recent off-road challenges. Her spirit was tested in Charlottesville April 15 at the O-Hill Meltdown, when tough hills had her and other racers walking their bikes.
“I probably spent 40 percent of my race time off the bike, and that hurts my spirit a lot,” Polk said. “I am a mountain biker, and spending time off the bike is tough and frustrating.”
“I think she really only competes against herself,” her mother said. “She’s a Marine personified.”
In that same race, she was closely competing against another racer who crashed and bent her front wheel.
“I hesitated as my competitive side tried to take over,” Polk said. “But my USMC jersey represents far more than a hard-charging first place trophy. There was no chance I would leave her behind. I jumped off the bike and helped her rig it to finish the race.”
Though Polk taught herself a lot, she has learned very important lessons from other people as well. She had a hard time rock climbing one day and was ready to go home when another climber asked her why she was leaving.
“It’s those days, when nothing makes sense and your body isn’t doing what you want it to, that you push through it and learn the most,” Polk recalled the man’s words. “It was the best lesson I’ve ever learned.”
Polk has no immediate goals she is worried about. She is happy as an enlisted Marine, what she refers to as an important piece of the Marine Corps puzzle.
“It’s a great feeling to wake up everyday, strategically place my boot bands between the second and third eyelet of my favorite jungle boots and achieve that perfectly tailored look of a United States Marine before I go tackle the world one 30-inch step at a time,” Polk said. “I plan to live 10 lives all in one lifetime. Why not? If you follow your passions in life, the rest will follow, and I’m a firm believer in that.”