COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Nearly 3 million people serve among the six branches in the United States Military.
Victoria Murnieks and Dylan Van Tassell are among the newest members of that fighting force. They’ll soon become 2nd Lieutenants in the U.S. Space Force.
“I wanted to serve people and serve my country,” Murnieks said. “I also wanted to do something greater than myself.”
Murnieks and Van Tassell shared that view. They met when Van Tassell was in his freshman year in the Air Force ROTC program at Ohio State. Murnieks, who is one year older, was serving as a “spotter” during a training drill in French Field House.
“I happened to join this line, and I’m glad that I did,” he said. “I stopped early because whoever was announcing the time said ‘five.’ It was like a five-second warning. I thought they said ‘time.’ So I stopped early. I was about to match the test. I was like two push-ups away.”
Murnieks was supervising his push-ups.
“I just remember he was just so calm about it… very calm, collected and just very mature,” she said.
She later taught Van Tassell how to swim laps in an OSU swimming pool. Their connection was undeniable.
“We just had a lot of the same aligned interests and a lot of the same goals. He was also really interested in space,” she said.
That led to a romantic relationship. In 2022, Van Tassell proposed. In April of this year, the couple married in Columbus. By May, both had completed their Ohio State degrees (Murnieks in aerospace engineering and Van Tassell in engineering physics).
They just returned from a honeymoon in Europe. In late July, the newlyweds will travel to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado to begin their training for a career in the Space Force.
“The things that they do day in and day out, I mean, it’s like a movie,” Van Tassell said. “I’ve never experienced something like that in real life before. So I’m very excited to do that.”
Murnieks said her experience at OSU completely changed her trajectory in life.
“I can’t thank Ohio State enough,” she said. “This is where I gained so much confidence in myself. I had no idea that the Space Force would become a thing while I was in college and that I would meet my life partner while I was in college. I had no idea.”