Vernal native celebrates 'amazing career,' retirement from U.S. Marine Band

VERNAL — After spending two decades doing communications, public affairs and design projects for the oldest continuously active professional musical organization in the country, Utah native Master Sgt. Brian Rust has retired from the U.S. Marine Band.

Dubbed "The President's Own," the U.S. Marine Band was formed in 1798 and has performed for every U.S. president since John Adams. The band's purpose is to provide music for the nation's president and the commandant of the Marine Corps.

"It was really an amazing career," Rust said. "It's an amazing organization that is the premier military band of the Marine Corps and, really, of all military, and is really looked up to as far as concert bands go, as the premier band in the world."

As the president's band, the group plays at every inauguration, performs around 200 times a year at the White House for various state dinners and government events, hosts public concerts and goes on a national tour each year.

"We're the first ones to play 'Hail to the Chief' right after the president takes the oath of office," he said.

Rust grew up in Vernal, where he graduated high school. During his last semester at Brigham Young University while he was getting a bachelor's degree in communications, Rust saw a job opening in the public affairs office for the U.S. Marine Band.

"It wasn't entry-level. I thought I had zero shot at getting it, but I'll take a chance," he said.

He applied, did a phone interview, then was flown out for an in-person interview.

"I got a call later saying they wanted to hire me. As part of that, I had to join the Marine Corps, so I enlisted and then went straight to Washington, D.C. to start my job there," Rust recalled.

Over the next 20 years, Rust did public relations, photography and event management for the band. He became the creative lead, designing all visual branding for the musical group. Each year, Rust got to tour different regions of the country with the band, connecting with the local music directors from small towns to big cities.

"A lot of them, that was the one and only time the Marine Band was going to come to their town, and it was really cool to see the excitement they had," he said.

He also loved experiencing the excitement people would have for the band after seeing the posters, programs and other things he had created for the events.

In 2019, President Donald Trump awarded a National Medal of Art to the musicians of the military. A few years later, Rust was asked to take the lead on designing a permanent exhibit at the Pentagon that displayed the medal and honored the history of military musicians.

Rust worked with representatives from all five branches of the military and their musicians to design the display. Several of his photos he has taken of the Marine Band were included in the exhibit, along with information and historical photos from each of the five military bands.

"The end product was amazing. I got to go to the unveiling of it, and it was pretty cool to be there. All five branches of the military have a premier band, so the directors of each of those bands were there," he said.

The U.S. Marine Band hosted a retirement ceremony for Rust in July, where the band played ceremonial songs including "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and "The Marines' Hymn" in honor of Rust's dedication to the organization. Several of his colleagues shared kind words about his career, and he gave a farewell speech.

"A retirement ceremony for the Marine Band really is an incredible opportunity," he said. "It was an amazing experience and ceremony that really, I wish everyone was able to have something like that when they retire... It was an incredible experience to be there in uniform one last time."

While he will technically still be a part of the Marine Corps until November, Rust is currently in Orlando, Florida, working for Disney as part of SkillBridge, a government program that helps military members transition to civilian work. But he won't ever leave his Marine life totally behind, he says.

"Once a Marine, always a Marine. There's that Marine Corps pride and tradition that I'll always have and honor," he said.

Rust is going to miss having a front-row seat to "incredible musicians and music" and being able to just pop in and listen to rehearsals. One of his favorite parts of the job was getting to finally watch a performance he had been working on and promoting for months.

"Hearing the Marine Band play and really getting chills at how amazing they sound and just playing some of these patriotic stuff and feeling a great sense of pride in our country," he said, "And being front and center at presidential inaugurations, no matter the president — I was at five of them — is one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. It really is just amazing."

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