UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For Penn State College of Education doctoral candidate and Army veteran Maj. Phillip Ealy, service has always been a big part of his life.

His family is full of those who have entered the military, and he has seen family members don the uniform of just about every branch of the service — although he jokes while they haven’t yet had someone in the U.S. armed forces’ newest branch, the almost three-year-old Space Force, “I think that’s coming soon, too.”

But Ealy said he knew from an early age his desire was to join the military.

“I wanted to be just like my dad,” he said. “My dad’s retired from the Army. He was still active when I went in. My family has a long history of serving in the military. All the way back, I had great-great-great-uncles who were Buffalo Soldiers, so back post-Civil War, even in the Civil War. Growing up, I did sports, I did other things, but I knew I wanted to go into the military and at the time, that was my goal in high school was to just go into the military and serve our country. That was really an easy choice for me.”

Ealy started his career in the National Guard and wound up serving nearly 20 years in the Army, retiring with the rank of major. Now, while needing only his dissertation to earn a doctorate in workforce education and development from the College of Education, he also serves as director of operations for the Penn State Blue Band, a 350-member ensemble whose mobilization on football Saturdays and at other events often requires the precision of a military mission.

He first came to Penn State while still in the Army, assigned to the University’s ROTC program. He also has worked to assist veterans and their families locally by working at the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State while his son finished high school.

But no matter what he has done since, Ealy said his military service has prepared him well for it.

In the military

In 1996, Ealy joined the West Virginia Army National Guard before going on active duty. He was first assigned to Fort Lewis in Washington state, and it was there that he got his first experience in organization building.

“Gen. [Eric K.] Shinseki, who was chief of staff of the Army at the time, was wanting to implement something that was an intermediate brigade,” Ealy said. “Something between light and heavy, something that was a little bit faster than a heavy brigade, but something with a little more protection and firepower than a light brigade.

“We were the test bed,” he continued. “We did everything from testing different vehicles to setting doctrine, so that was a very exciting and interesting time for me because I really learned how to develop organizations from the ground up — what all that means, what it entails, all the different things that had to take place in order to start an organization from scratch. I was very appreciative of that experience because that helped lay a foundation for a lot of what I did later in life.”

After his time at Fort Lewis ended, he was stationed in South Korea, where Ealy said he learned the value of serving with military partners from other countries. He also has been assigned to serve in Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“My career has actually run the gamut, but the bulk of my time in military service was as an artillery officer,” Ealy said. “However, being an Army officer, you do the job that you were hired for, but you’re doing a whole lot of other jobs that have nothing to do with what you were basically hired for. I spent time as a supply officer, spent time as a personnel officer, spent time as an intelligence officer, spent time leading organizations as a commander, spent time doing things like being a battalion operations officer, a battalion executive officer, which is, for us, is really the chief of staff of the organization and second in command. So, my times around the globe in different organizations ran the gamut of doing a lot of different things.”

His final assignment in the military would bring him to Penn State as part of the ROTC program. It would not be his final association with the University, however.

Working with the Blue Band

Once Ealy officially retired from the Army in 2016, he remembers having a conversation with his friend and Blue Band director Gregory Drane that, although he didn’t know it at the time, would plant the seeds for his next act at Penn State.

“I was in the office with Greg Drane because we know each other from other things,” Ealy said. “He was getting ready for the Rose Bowl and I told him then ‘Why are you so involved with certain things and certain aspects of the Rose Bowl? You should have other people to help you do that.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a good idea.’”

Meanwhile Ealy and his youngest son faced a choice. His son had been attending school in State College, but with his father’s retirement from the Army, it was undecided as to whether they would remain in Centre County or move elsewhere.

Ealy said he left it up to his son.

“I said ‘Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?’” Ealy recalled. “And he said, ‘If possible, could we stay here in State College and finish high school?”

Once word got to Drane that Ealy was sticking around for a while, he didn’t hesitate to remind his friend of their prior meeting.

“As soon as it was decided that I was going to stay here, Greg said, ‘Remember that conversation we had? Why don’t you help me out for making that happen for the Blue Band?’ So, since that day, I’ve been helping out,” Ealy said.

Ealy now serves as the band’s director of operations, which basically means he takes care of many of the logistical challenges a large band that serves as a prominent representation of the University presents on a day-to-day basis — including planning for road trips like those to high-profile football bowl games.

When he first hired Ealy, Drane warned his friend and fraternity brother about the challenging nature of the job. Ealy’s response has stuck with him.

“As he was transitioning out of military life and I asked him to take this job, I was like, ‘It’s a lot of moving parts and a lot of stress’ and things like that and he looked at me and said, ‘Greg, I’ve moved entire cities under gunfire. I don’t think moving the Blue Band will be an issue,’” Drane said while laughing. “I said ‘Yes, sir.’”

In his current role, Ealy interacts regularly with band members and support staff alike. He also has served as a leadership mentor not only for Drane, but members of the Blue Band as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Drane said it didn’t take long for Ealy to earn the respect and admiration of those around him.

“The students, they absolutely love him,” Drane said. “They absolutely adore him. They know when they’re around him they’re going to learn something new.

“We all call him ‘Major Ealy’ so we all still call him by his title just as a show of respect for him,” Drane continued. “The students have so much respect for him.”

The irony of Ealy’s involvement with the Blue Band is not lost on him. While his father served in the Army, his mother was a music teacher.

And although Ealy admits neither he nor his siblings ever exhibited any musical talent, that he now works with a huge college marching band seems to have brought everything full circle.

“It's humbling and every now and then you have to take a moment to reflect on it,” he said. “It’s one of those things that you try to make sure that — and I don’t want to call them kids because they’re young adults — these young adults understand that you’re contributing to the quality of life of people and it’s not a small thing. And so taking time to reflect on that and just to really appreciate the opportunity that you have to do that, it’s nothing that you should take lightly.”

During his time at Penn State, Ealy also met Hyung Joon Yoon, associate professor of education (workforce education and development) in the College of Education, who has been involved in Ealy’s pursuit of a doctorate. Yoon estimates Ealy has taken five of his courses, and is someone with whom Ealy found he shared more than an institute of higher learning.

“He took WFED 582 Assessing and Feeding Back Data with me in spring 2016 when I was teaching the course from Morocco,” Yoon said. “At that time, my full-time position was with Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane as an assistant professor, and I taught WFED 582 as an adjunct instructor after developing the course. Phillip was a student in our Master of Professional Studies in Organization Development and Change program. At that time, he was still in the U.S. Army as an instructor for Penn State Army ROTC. Because I was in Army ROTC in South Korea and was an artillery officer (lieutenant) in the South Korean army, and he was also an artillery officer who was stationed in South Korea, I had some affinity with him.”

Pursuing his doctorate

After a lengthy career in the Army and taking on an upper management role with the Blue Band, it would be easy to wonder why Ealy would put himself through the rigorous process of pursuing a doctorate.

While some would see that task as yet another herculean undertaking, Ealy sees it as an opportunity for growth and to apply what he learned while in the military to what he’s doing at Penn State.

“You can’t tackle a huge task all at once,” he said. “You have to take it step by step. So, looking at what the end goal is and then breaking down all those steps and the major tasks that have to happen prior to it. At times, working on a Ph.D. can feel overwhelming, but being able to take that pause and say, ‘OK, let’s not look at that. What’s the next step that needs to happen? And let’s just focus on that.’ And then ‘What’s the next step after that?’ Kind of like [head football] coach [James] Franklin’s mentality: don’t look at the whole season, just focus on this next game that’s got to happen.”

Ealy said he is “ABD” meaning all but dissertation — the last step for any doctoral candidate prior to earning their degree. He has begun the research process before he will write and later defend his dissertation.

His work so far — and not just on his dissertation — has been well received.

“His dissertation addresses factors that contribute to African American Army officers' career and leadership success,” Yoon said. “I view his work as advocacy work, and the outcome will be used to facilitate organizations to facilitate an organizational environment where African Americans as well as people from all backgrounds thrive. When he provided consulting to a local small business as part of a course he was taking three years ago, he made the consulting team and the client group a psychologically safe and inclusive space. When he served on our student group, the Workforce Education Graduate Student Association as outreach committee chair, he advocated for anti-racist efforts.”

His goal for what he wants to do once he has his doctorate is simple — use his knowledge to benefit others. Ealy said he wants to start his own consulting firm that would assist small- and medium-size organizations with organizational development.

“A lot of times when people start their own business, they’re very good at whatever it is they’re good at,” he said. “So, if I’m starting a restaurant, I’m a very good cook or I know certain aspects of it. If I’m really good at knitting and I put together real nice crafts, I’m good at that. But as my business or organization expands, I might not be as well versed at dealing with some of those challenges that will arise when it comes to developing that organization. So, being able to help small- and medium-size organizations overcome some of those hurdles, identify some of those challenges, and put systems in place to take those on, it’s again, that service mentality — being able to be of service to somebody because it’s a skill set that a lot of people don’t realize is out there. It’s a skill set a lot of people don’t have and to be able to help them out with that is rewarding.”

His love of service has undoubtedly defined Ealy’s life. But if there is one thing Ealy’s friends may criticize him over, it’s his inability, or sometimes unwillingness, to accept praise and appreciate his accomplishments.

“I just want to tell him — and I know he knows this, but he’s not the type of person that just steps into the limelight — he does what he does and he works so hard out of the goodness of his heart,” Drane said. “That’s just the type of person he is. I would just tell him to enjoy his roses when they are given to him and to appreciate that and to feel good in those moments because a lot of the work he does is so unseen but it is extremely valuable to the organization and what we do. We talk about our role as leaders is to develop other leaders and ensure that the organization continues to grow even in our absence, and he’s been doing that since Day 1.”