John E. Occhipinti

LTC(R) John Edward Occhipinti was born in Paterson, New Jersey in November 1955. He attended William Paterson College (now university) 1973-1977. While in college, Occhipinti played football and even went on to try out for the New York Giants in 1980. His football experience and love of working out would later help him to excel as a soldier. Occhipinti finished his degree while he was an enlisted soldier through the New York Regents program. Later in his career, Occhipinti received his Master’s in Education Counseling from Long Island University while stationed at West Point.

Motivated by the Iran Hostage crisis, Occhipinti’s military journey began in 1981. He enlisted in the Army and ten days after he was married, he started basic training. He liked the idea of being a soldier and had family members who had served in the armed forces. His father was a Korean War era veteran, and his uncle Sam was a World War II veteran who received a bronze star and a purple heart. A few of his other uncles also served, but Occhipinti was the first in his family to have a military career. After enlisting, he went through basic and advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama. After graduating from AIT, Occhipinti’s drill sergeants wrote a letter recommending him for Officer Candidate School, or OCS, which the company commander signed.

While serving as a Military Police (MP) soldier at Seneca Army Depot, Occhipinti was granted an interview to attend OCS. After a rocky interview, Occhipinti wasn’t sure if he would be selected, but a few weeks later, he was excited to find out he had been. He was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for OCS. During his training there, Occhipinti performed extremely well and graduated as an Honor Graduate and was commissioned an MP second lieutenant. After OCS, Occhipinti graduated from the MP Officer Basic Course, and then Army Airborne school.

He was then stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey from 1983 to 1986. Initially assigned as a training officer for the basic trainees, he requested to be switched to the 511th MP Company, 759^th MP Battalion. Early on he was told his platoon was in bad shape, but he was determined to turn that around. Occhipinti trained his platoon extremely hard, and he grew to love his platoon.

During his time at Fort Dix, Occhipinti and his platoon apprehended two felons who were wanted in many areas from as far as Trenton and Hamilton. He was not supposed to be officially on duty at the time, however he chose to be with his soldiers. They apprehended both felons and discovered a car with a trunk full of stolen goods. The following year, he was selected as the AUSA Fort Dix Company Grade Officer of the year, a recognition he thanked his soldiers for.

During their annual major training exercise, Occhipinti’s platoon competed for the chance to be sent to Grenada and due to their outstanding performance, they were selected. After returning from the exercise, Occhipinti was told by the battalion executive officer (who he served with a few times and thought highly of) that he and a few members of the battalion were selected to try out for a 10-person All-Army MP team. Following a two-week tryout at Fort McClellan, Alabama, Occhipinti made the team as the team leader. A few others from his battalion also made the team; one who was from his platoon. He and the team were then sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky where they attended and graduated from the Air Assault School. During his time at Fort Campbell, Occhipinti was promoted to First Lieutenant. The team was then sent to Fort Carson, Colorado for high altitude training, then to Kirtland AFB where they competed in an international Air Force Security Police competition which included multiple Air Force teams, one Army, one British, and one Marine team.

Occhipinti was then assigned as Assistant S-3 (training officer) of the 759th MP battalion and soon became the battalion HHD (Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment) commander. During his time as the HHD commander, he was deployed to Honduras in 1986 to evaluate a National Guard MP company’s training, as well as to be a liaison for his counterpart in the Honduran military police. Although U.S. soldiers were not there to engage the enemy, they were in harm’s way and on a few occasions, they did have to defend themselves. One such incident occurred near their base camp. Occhipinti led the defensive effort and it was believed that these actions thwarted the enemy forces who were believed to be Sandinistas. 

From 1986-1989, Occhipinti and his family were sent to Fort McClellan, Alabama where he attended the Officer’s Advanced Course. After graduation, he was selected to be a Small Group Leader/Instructor for MP Second Lieutenants.

Occhipinti went on to serve in Taegu, South Korea from 1989-1991 and was able to bring his family. He recalled taking over as the commanding officer for the 188^th MP Company, an exceptionally talented unit. Occhipinti also recalled the rising tensions during Desert Shield and Desert Storm while they were in Korea. He and his company were on high alert and were preparing to be called to duty in support of Desert Storm.

There were countless experiences and incidents during Occhipinti’s time in Korea. He recalled one such incident, a bomb threat in his son’s school. A device was found, and Occhipinti directed actions which included having the principal evacuate the school and notifying the Emergency Ordnance Division. An actual device was discovered and destroyed in a controlled detonation. Shortly after this, his MP’s captured personnel who may have been responsible for the incident. There were other incidents to include fire bombings directed at the base and “wildfire missions” to control riots. During his time in Korea, Occhipinti recalled having great cooperation from the South Korean government. He had the opportunity to meet many interesting people, including several police chiefs.

Occhipinti commented that: “I believe the Lord had two guardian angels helping me” when referring to challenges he faced and accomplishments he achieved during this time. Occhipinti was selected as the Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award recipient for the 728^th MP Battalion and 8^TH MP Brigade and was the Taegu area winner. He was a runner-up for the Korea-wide competition for the 8^th U.S. Army. Occhipinti took second place in a Korea wide pistol competition and his company won the Jeremiah P. Holland Award for the best Military Police company in Korea in 1990, and the Maintenance Excellence Award in 1991. During his time in Korea, he and his wife Fran became Eucharistic ministers to assist in the Catholic Mass, and they taught Sunday School which he also served as the principal.

On his return from Korea, Occhipinti and his family were stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland from 1991 to 1995. In 1992, he turned down an opportunity to move to Fort Polk to be a Battalion S-3 in order to keep his family together in Maryland. In 1994, Occhipinti became the battalion executive officer for the Headquarters Battalion and was promoted to major.

From 1995 to 1999, the next duty station was West Point. He mentioned that his wife and children enjoyed their time at West Point. While his boss was on leave and Occhipinti was in charge, there was a serious incident, an escaped convict was loose on the grounds of West Point. Local police, state troopers, and West Point MP’s converged on this escaped person. They surrounded the individual and a firefight occurred. Instead of being taken in, the man shot himself, and was pronounced dead at West Point Hospital.

From 1999 to 2003, Occhipinti served as Deputy Commandant of the West Point Prep School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. He was the assistant to the Commandant, the Chief of Staff for West Point Prep School, and the Commanding Officer of the military staff. Occhipinti recalled what it was like for the students while at Prep as well as their journey to West Point. After his first year as Deputy Commandant, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. During his time at Fort Monmouth, Occhipinti had to deal with the effects the 9/11 attacks had on the West Point Prep personnel, and support to the Fort Monmouth community. Occhipinti retired in 2003 after 22 years of enlisted and commissioned service.

After retirement, he became a government civilian and was the Director for Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security for the Fort Monmouth Garrison. Fort Monmouth closed as an active installation in 2011. Occhipinti was genuinely concerned about the civilians and retired military and how the closure would affect them saying, “this was their home; they’ve been working and living at Fort Monmouth for 20, 30, or even 40 years.” Occhipinti became the Fort Monmouth site manager for the base realignment and closure (BRAC) mission from September 2011 until 2018. He officially retired as a civilian in 2018 with 15 years as a government civilian.

He and his family enjoyed every tour and everywhere they were stationed. He felt that having the opportunity to serve with countless great soldiers and civilians, and having a wonderful family; his wife Fran, son Edward, and daughter Lillian; made his time in service a truly rewarding and incredible experience.

Additional Resources:

• App.com – East Gate Park’s Veterans’ Memorial
• Two Rivers Times – A New Tribute to the Military and Former Fort Monmouth
• The Link News – LT Col Retired John E. Occhipinti
• The Link News – Oceanport Honors Veterans Day