It only took Susan Seaman two weeks at the U.S. Naval Academy to realize she wanted to be in the Marine Corps — despite not knowing exactly what the Marines did.

The former Columbia resident's 1989 commission has led her up a leadership ladder that few women have reached. She is currently one of only 22 female active duty colonels in the entire Marine Corps. And on Aug. 29, she assumed duties as commanding officer for the Marine Corps Forces Command Headquarters and Service Battalion at Camp Allen, in Norfolk, Va.

Seaman's journey to Virginia, where she now lives with her husband, retired French Marine Col. Henri Bore, and her 4-month-old daughter, Eloise, began in Columbia.

Seaman, 44, moved to Stevens Forest from Bowie in 1971. One of four sisters, she attended Stephens Forest Elementary School, Dunloggin Middle School and Oakland Mills High School for a year before transferring to the McDonogh School, in Owings Mills, for her final three years in high school.

"I remember the bike paths, the schools all being very close, the pools, my friends. I just remember everything being very accessible and a great place for a kid to grow up," Seaman said about Columbia. "Our houses (backed up) to each other and our backyards, that was our playground. We were in everybody's yard running around.

"What I've always been impressed about is that they've been very careful to maintain a balance of suburban living and corporate businesses," added Seaman, who returns to Columbia every few months to visit two of her sisters, who still live there. "It's a lovely place to visit; it's almost like a fairy tale in some ways."

Through her years as a swimmer for Columbia Aquatics and on her neighborhood team, Seaman occasionally would participate in meets held at the U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis. Her exposure to the campus, she said, combined with her sense of independence and desire to put herself through school, convinced her that was where she wanted to go to college.

"When I was growing up, I couldn't imagine the life of a military person being meaningful," she said.

Following her graduation and commissioning in May 1989, Season attended the Marine school in Quantico, Va., where she chose to become an adjunct and manpower officer — the equivalent of working in the human resources department in the civilian world.

Since then, she has steadily moved up the ranks and held a variety of positions, including a stint as military aide to the Marine Corps commandant.

Marine Corps and women

While the Marine Corps is rich in tradition, Seaman said the corps has changed during her two decades of service, especially how women are perceived and treated.

"When we first went into the Naval Academy, there weren't as many women. But this generation has grown," Seaman said. "The young men and women who join the military, it's not such a novelty (being a woman), and that just erases a lot of problems you used to have earlier on. They're not questioning where you belong."

Seaman never considered her gender could have an impact on what she does.

"It never bothered me. Yeah, I know I'm in a boy's club, but I'm pretty adaptable and don't expect them to change for me."

Anne Weinberg, of Burke, Va., who met Seaman in Quantico more than 20 years ago and is now an intelligence officer for the Department of Defense, called Seaman "one of the finest officers I've ever worked with." The two have been roommates on numerous occasions, including in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

"She's a leader that's fair, firm and everything you would want in a good boss in the civilian world," Weinberg said. "From her peers, you never hear anyone speaking poorly of her. She's deserved what she's gotten (and is) viewed in the shiniest, best of light. … She's a good, solid, salt-of-the-earth person.

. "She's been chosen to do really great things because she is really great," Weinberg added.

Seaman said her long-term future with the Corps is uncertain. "I'll stay in as long as I'm enjoying it and its been meaningful. I love it and the people I work with. I don't know how much longer I'm going to stay, but at least three more years."

However long it is, Seaman is grateful for the years behind her.

"I got to see the world," she said, about her travels to Korea, Japan, Germany, Israel and Australia.

"It's been an incredible experience.

"We miss our families, friends and American life, but that's where we want to be," she added. "We move to the sound of the guns. …

"We all love what we do, no question about that. We're proud of what we do. We're the lucky ones because we have a job now, and we talk about that a lot. We understand the rest of the country is struggling. We hope what we do will help things so we can turn things around in this country."