Jonathan Hatch

I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, enlisted at the end of my senior year in high school, and began my journey in the Marines in September of 2015. Upon acceptance of the aircrew contract, I was assigned to the MV-22 platform and spent a little over a year in training before I received orders to my first command, VMM-268 “Red Dragons” in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. After a rotation to Darwin Australia in 2018, I began my instructor syllabus after attending WTI as an aerial observer and would later be promoted to Sergeant in February 2020. That spring I received orders to the world-famous VMM-364 “Purple Foxes”. During my time with the purple foxes, I graduated from Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, deployed to the Middle East in the summer of 2021, and finished out my time there working in the operations department. I was transferred to Wounded Warrior Battalion in March 2023 after being diagnosed with PTSD, and I have been working on my recovery since. This is my first time competing in an event this large and I look forward to the challenge. This opportunity for me is about pushing myself past my limits physically and mentally as well as becoming confident in my skills and abilities.