Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Eric Hastings, a Montana State University alumnus and founder of a national organization that serves traumatically injured servicemen and women, will receive an honorary doctorate degree from MSU during the university’s fall commencement ceremony on Friday, Dec. 12, at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Today, the Montana Board of Regents approved the honorary degree for Hastings, a Bozeman resident who was born and raised in the city. Honorary doctorates are the university’s highest form of commendation, conferred upon individuals who have excelled and made outstanding contributions to society.
Hastings’ military career began in 1960, the year he enlisted in the Marine Corps and enrolled at MSU. After graduating in 1964 with a degree in history and philosophy, he spent three decades as a military aviator and leader. His career included piloting 168 combat missions in Vietnam and serving in numerous high-level posts, including as commander of the “Black Sheep” Marine Attack Squadron 214, and as chief of staff for the First Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Central Command during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Hastings also served as a professor of Defense Economics and Analysis; History, Strategy and Policy; and Joint Operations at the Naval War College and United States Air Force Air War College, before he retired in 1994.
Hastings was recognized for heroism and meritorious conduct with numerous military awards, including two Legion of Merit decorations, an Air Medal with Bronze Star, 11 Strike/Flight Air medals, a Meritorious Service Medal and the Navy Commendation Medal. But unwilling to rest on those laurels after retirement, Hastings found new ways to serve his fellow warriors. Inspired by the Marine Corps motto “Semper Fidelis,” which means “always faithful,” he founded the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation, a national organization that helps veterans and their loved ones to thrive and find peace, meaning, purpose and resiliency through fly fishing and other inspirational activities in nature.
“You can’t just walk off into the sunset,” said Hastings in a 2011 interview for a Weekly Standard article about Warriors and Quiet Waters. “This is an honor contract between Americans and the people who were sent to war in their name.”
In a letter supporting Hastings’ nomination for the honorary degree, retired Marine Corps Gen. Walter Boomer wrote of Warriors and Quiet Waters’ impact.
“In all of my experience with veterans groups, I have never seen such success, all due to one man,” he wrote. “(Eric Hastings) has brought service and dedication to his country, his fellow citizens of Montana and honor to his alma mater, Montana State University. I cannot imagine a better candidate for the award of honorary doctorate.”
One veteran and alumnus of the program described in a letter to the nominating committee how Warriors and Quiet Waters helped him deal with the physical, mental and emotional scars of war.
“Eric taught me and countless U.S. servicemembers to harness the healing power of nature,” wrote retired Marine Staff Sgt. Joshua Caskey. “His mentorship helped me restore my sense of purpose and has left an indelible mark on the person I am today.”
The organization helped Hastings, too, discover his own sense of purpose after the death of his high school sweetheart and wife of 57 years, Jean Schauer Hastings, in 2021. According to the nominating materials, Hastings felt “lost,” but a concerned and perceptive Warriors and Quiet Waters staff member helped him find a new focus.
The staffer, knowing that Hastings had earned a master’s degree in classical piano performance at the Mannes School of Music in New York City after retiring from the Marine Corps, suggested that he perform a recital as a fundraiser for the foundation. Hastings immersed himself in preparing for the technically demanding program, practicing for four to six hours a day over the next year and a half. Former U.S. Secretary of State and fellow pianist Condoleezza Rice remotely gave introductory remarks to the in-person and livestream audience, thanking both Hastings for his service to the nation and Warriors and Quiet Waters for its work.
Former MSU adjunct professor of music Eric Funk, now retired, lauded Hastings’ effort, motives and caliber of performance in a letter supporting the honorary doctorate nomination.
“He didn’t undertake this leviathan task for praise or ego, satisfaction or proof of his mastery as a pianist,” Funk wrote. “He did this because of his love for humanity, veterans, family, service, honor, goodness and music.”
Hastings served as president and CEO of Warriors and Quiet Waters from 2007 to 2016 and continues to serve on its advisory board. In addition, he has actively supported veterans and U.S. forces in other ways. He served as a national board director for the Order of Daedalians, a fraternity of military pilots, and he founded the Gallatin Skyhawk Scholarship Foundation, enabling aspiring military aviators to earn private pilot licenses. He also has served in the leadership of Bozeman United Methodist Church and Gallatin Airport Authority and has been active in the Kiwanis club of Bozeman.
“As a civilian, Colonel Hastings has not slowed down his unwavering commitment to helping others,” wrote former MSU adjunct professor Frank Seitz. “From that passionate mission he refuses to retire.”
Hastings’ long association with MSU spans generations. His father, Ellsworth Hastings, was an MSU professor of entomology and zoology and served as the state entomologist for Montana. His mother, Kirsten, was the administrative secretary for the English department. His sons, both retired Marine Corps officers, are MSU alumni, as is one of his four grandchildren. Now living in Bozeman with his second wife, Ilse-Mari Lee Hastings, he continues to enthusiastically support Bobcat football, basketball and rodeo.