Military Career
After the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Marjorie enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve, serving for ten years as an intelligence officer and commander. Her ten years of post-9/11 military service include two combat deployments, one in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the other in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. She started out enlisted and received the rare honor of being awarded a direct commission within her first two years of service. Her final duty was to lead more than one hundred soldiers in Afghanistan in the successful completion of their mission, and safely return them home. She was ranked the #1 Military Intelligence Company Commander in Eastern Afghanistan for the deployment cycle of 2009-2010, awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service as a combat commander and received the Combat Action Badge.
The Frontline Generation
Marjorie’s biggest battle actually took place when she became a mother to her son, Henk. At 6-months-old he was diagnosed with a type of infant cancer called Neuroblastoma. Marjorie and her husband, Charles, anchored down in their faith during this difficult time, and the greatest blessing of their life were the sweet words, “clear margins.” Henk remains cancer free and a cancer survivor today!
Marjorie drew from her time in the military to survive that crucible in her life, and started to write. Marjorie published her work and was recognized in 2017 as the award-winning author of a National Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) for The Frontline Generation: How We Served Post 9/11. The book began as a personal memoir for her son and became the first to define post 9/11 service and leadership. It was a featured title for Hudson Booksellers in airports across the U.S. (2016-2017) and is on the recommended reading list for the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Center of Excellence library and museum.
Education & Career
Marjorie earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. As an undergraduate, she was competitively selected as a White House Intern and also studied abroad at the University College London, School for Slavonic and East European Studies. She attended the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, where she earned her Master’s Degree in International Security, with concentrations in Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Human Rights. During her graduate studies, she was one of 56 students selected nationally for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Honors Internship Program. She also has an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.
Her professional path includes perspective and experience in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Marjorie has held various leadership roles in operations, strategy and communications, and has been described as a sought-after keynote speaker, thought leader and innovation champion.
Recognition & Awards
In 2018, Marjorie was selected as one of the nation’s Top 25 Influencers Supporting the Military Community, known as Mighty 25. The Junior Chamber International (JCI) USA named Marjorie as a recipient of the 2019 Ten Outstanding Young Americans Award. The TOYA is one of the oldest and most prestigious programs in America, recognizing only ten individuals nationwide who exemplify the best attributes of the nation’s young people. Previous honorees include the likes of John F. Kennedy (1946), Chuck Yeager (1954), Elvis Presley (1970), and George Stephanopoulos (1993).
Marjorie continues to positively shape the narrative for veterans, women, the value of service, and frontline leadership. She supports charities and boards that support girls, women, veterans and entrepreneurs.
Personal Life
As a spouse of a soldier, Marjorie also understands life from the perspective of military family members. Her husband, Charles, served a career in the U.S. Army as a Ranger, and as an AH-64 Apache Longbow and AH-6 Little Bird aviator, with multiple combat deployments. He retired out of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment in 2017.
After 20 years, living across the country and around the world, Marjorie and Charles could finally choose their forever home. They chose the heart of the triangle and moved to Cary, North Carolina. The Eastman family share their home with two shelter rescue dogs, Peanut and Hailey, and two cats, Friendship and Bigsby.
