Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Artillery Enlisted Assignments Monitor Master Gunnery Sgt. Norman Crowe, stationed aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, has a hobby one would not expect of a hardened warrior: he plays the cello. He took it up two years ago to encourage his then-sixth grade son, Evan, who was learning to play the viola. Crowe told Evan he would also start taking music lessons, so they could at least complain together about practicing.

Crowe selected the cello and began taking private lessons with a local instructor and volunteering with the orchestra program at Evan’s school. When Crowe received an e-mail about the Virginia Cello Ensemble, he submitted an application and was accepted. The Ensemble has approximately 30 members, consisting of adults and students from middle school through college, including some homeschooled students. They give four to five performances per year and opened for the Rappahannock POPS Orchestra on Oct. 25.

At 42, Crowe says “learning is a little more difficult at this age,” and the Marines in his office were initially surprised when they found out he had started to play. Crowe believes that one is never too old to learn, however, and has even inspired another Marine in the office to start taking violin lessons.

Though he works long hours as an enlisted monitor, he fits in practice sessions whenever he can, sometimes practicing in the office in the evening while waiting to speak with Marines in different time zones. Crowe will continue playing at his next duty station, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he will be the director of enlisted gunnery when he transfers out there this coming spring. His wife of 10 years, Dana, and their five children have already moved out there to get settled into the new school system and community. A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Crowe is looking forward to being back in his home state.