Marching Forward

Lee Park ’22 marched into a career soon after graduating from Westmont and being commissioned as a second lieutenant. Participating in Army ROTC as a student first at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) and then at Westmont led to his position as an assistant operations officer in an Army Combat Sustainment Support Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington. He’s also pursuing a master’s degree in supply-chain management and logistics through Georgetown University. Previously, he led in a Forward Support Company assisting U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in the Middle East and Asia.

Park served in UC Santa Barbara’s ROTC Surfrider Battalion while attending school and working at downtown restaurants and later as a cook and kitchen manager at a transitional living home.

“That season of life was difficult but formative,” he says. “Some of my best memories are early morning physical training sessions and trail running. It gave me grit, perspective and a hunger to pursue a calling to military service.”

Park pins on captain in May 2026 and expects his master’s degree in logistics to help him advance. “I aspire to keep working for the benefit of the country, such as contributing to research making Army supply chains more efficient or seeking great logistics solutions to large-scale combat operations,” he says.

A political science major, Park praises professors Jesse Covington, Katherine Bryant and Tom Knecht. “Their wisdom and faith deeply shaped how I think about leadership, global affairs and servant-oriented decision-making,” he says. “I loved courses in international politics, political theory and international development — all of which I now see reflected in my work as an Army officer.”

He met his wife, Veronica Nguyen Park ’22, at Westmont, a fellow political science major.

“Westmont grounded me in faith and equipped me for a life of purpose. I’m grateful beyond words,” he says.