UMGC Global Media Center
Student Veteran of the Year Ehsan Jamshidi’s Road to Success Began as a Child Refugee from Afghanistan

“To my fellow veterans, I want to remind you that the path you’re on is one of resilience and courage,” Jamshidi said. “Balancing education with life’s responsibilities, especially after service, is no small task. There will be times when the challenges seem overwhelming, but I urge you to stay on course. Push through the late nights, the doubts, and the countless responsibilities.”

“I can tell you from experience—it is worth it,” he said. “Your hard work today paves the way for future opportunities and achievements.”

Born in Herat, Afghanistan, Jamshidi said his early years were shaped by conflict and instability. Leaving Afghanistan in 2000 at the age of 4, he ended up in Elk Grove, California, after his mother, two brothers and a sister won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery, which enabled them to move to the United States. His father and two other brothers, however, were not allowed to leave Afghanistan.

Jamshidi said it was a huge cultural shock as his mother struggled to make money to support the family, and he worked to learn English and fit into his new home. After his mother became a citizen eight years later, she was able to get his father into the country, but not his two brothers.

Starting college right out of high school with the aim of majoring in criminal justice, Jamshidi initially had no thoughts of joining the military. That changed when a 20-year Army veteran in one of his classes advised him that with his interest in criminal justice, he could enlist as a military police (MP) officer and have his education paid for. Enlisting in the Marines, he rose to the rank of gunnery sergeant in nine years.

“When I joined the Marine Corps, I did so to serve a country that had given me so much,” Jamshidi said. “My career has included roles that demanded not only physical strength and endurance but also critical thinking, strategic planning, and a deep understanding of complex environments. Education has been key in helping me meet those demands.”

Balancing academics and military service was a challenge as Jamshidi moved through combat deployments around the world. Despite the demands of his service, he continued his education under often-adverse conditions, especially while serving with the Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC). While managing his studies, he supported critical operations, developed psychological operations products, and advised Marines Corps leadership on the operational information environment​.

Jamshidi was later accepted into the Marine Security Augmentation Unit, which protects U.S. embassies in high-security countries as well as high-level American officials visiting overseas. The assignment required him to be constantly ready for deployment anywhere in the world. Those deployments included protecting embassies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Jordan and two years spent as a detachment commander in Liberia, where he was responsible for evacuating embassy personnel and civilians during the COVID-19 pandemic –staying behind to protect the embassy himself. 

Later, after two years of training, Jamshidi moved into a psychological operations program. But when thousands of Afghans tried to flee the country as the U.S-backed government collapsed in 2021, Jamshidi answered the call for all Marines who could speak Farsi, Dari or Pashtu to be part of the evacuation. He was assigned to Quantico, Virginia, to help process more than 5,000 refugees.

While working around the clock to help refugees, he got a personal call. It turned out his mother was in Afghanistan and all flights out of the country had been canceled. Unaware of the potential collapse of the government, she had not told him of her plans to visit her sons still in the country. On top of his official duties, it was now Jamshidi’s job to get her safely out of the country. Fortunately, he had friends at the embassy willing to help even as they were closing their operation and evacuating everyone. 

By the time his mother, a grandson, and one of Jamshidi’s brothers made it to Kabul International Airport, thousands of people were frantically trying to get on flights. Jamshidi’s family members spent days outside the airport, inching their way closer. Even though he described his mother to a Marine friend at the airport, it took days to find her. Once they were in the airport, there were more days of waiting, sleeping on the floor, before they could get on an evacuation plane first to Qatar, then to Germany and, finally, to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.

As an American citizen, his mother could continue on to her home in California. But his brother and nephew joined the 5,000 other refugees Jamshidi was trying to help process. Fortunately, since they already had applied for Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan refugees who had assisted the U.S. government, they were ultimately released after processing at Quantico to join Jamshidi’s mother.

Despite the responsibilities he carried with his work, Jamshidi remained a dedicated student. On the advice of a fellow Marine, he enrolled at UMGC while on assignment in Bern, Switzerland, awaiting deployment.

“It’s a military friendly school,” he said, “and me being overseas, UMGC was perfect because I was able to work around the clock, get the classes and support I needed and still complete my mission.”

Enrolling at UMGC in 2019, he was able to get credit for past college coursework, enabling him to finish both an associate and a bachelor’s degree by the end of 2023. Now, he is well into a master’s degree in criminal justice management.

Unfortunately, a painful injury during martial arts training eventually led to Jamshidi’s medical retirement from the military. He tried to work through the pain, but he became more and more disabled, especially during training when he had to wear a 100-pound knapsack while carrying another Marine. He ultimately underwent a series of surgeries.

Jamshidi works now for the Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency, which provides security clearances for people doing business with the U.S. Department of Defense. While studying for his master’s degree, he is also completing a Project Management Professional certification program. He hopes those two credentials will advance him into a management position within the Department of Defense.

“Our military service has strengthened us to face any challenge,” he said, “and our education empowers us to use that strength to build a better world.”