Sgt. Jimmy Ochan was originally born in Uganda. After high school, he became a U.S. citizen and begun college in Washington, DC. After two years in college, Sgt. Ochan, walked into a recruiting office and voluntarily signed up to join the United States Marine Corps because he wanted to give back to a country that had opened its doors to him as a young man.
Sgt.Ochan was deployed twice to Iraq (OIF-Operation Iraqi Freedom) and once to Afghanistan (OEF-Operation Endurance Freedom) and during patrol was hit by an IED which resulted with several surgeries to his neck/spine and both knees at the Walter Reed Hospital and Fort Belvoir community hospital. He struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and mild TBI and migraines and continues to receive his treatment at the VA hospital while also participating in Equine therapy at Morven Park in Leesburg and golf in Fort Belvoir.
He was honorably and medically retired from the United States Marine Corps after 11 years and 7 months of service in 2015. After being discharged from hospital, Sgt. Ochan was awarded a full Patriot Scholarship to finish up his bachelor’s degree; he successfully completed and graduated in 2019 from Colorado Technical University online with a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice and Emergency Management. He lives in Arlington, VA with his wife Pat of 11 years and their 10 year old son William, who loves golf and Tennis.
Pat put aside her full-time career to care for her husband. She became very instrumental in creating the first-ever caregiver group in Fort Belvoir to help gather resources for all other caregivers whose loved ones had been injured in combat and were trying to navigate the health care system. Pat currently sits on the Advisory Board for Blue Star Families and has been a Fellow with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, representing Washington DC, where she was a spokesperson for 5.5 million women and men serving as military caregivers to our nations heroes, she was engaged with national and state leaders to uplift our nation’s military caregivers and helped bridge the critical gaps in services identified in the RAND research, she also served as the Foundation’s closest advisor and awareness partner.
Pat is a two-time recipient of the Patriot Scholarship. She graduated with a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Policy in 2017 and continued to pursue the Doctorate in Homeland Security Management at Colorado Technical University (Online). She will graduate in July, 2021.
