H&S Bn Marine selected for Warrant Officer Basic Course

Photo By Eve Baker | Staff Sgt. Bryan Liciaga-Recce, administrative chief for the base commander at Marine Corps Base Quantico, was recently selected for the Jan. 2015 Warrant Officer Basic Course, held at The Basic School aboard MCBQ.  

QUANTICO, VA, UNITED STATES

12.18.2014

Story by Maj. Eve Baker 

Marine Corps Base Quantico

QUANTICO, Va. - The Warrant Officer Basic Course is a 16-week training program located at The Basic School aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico that molds enlisted personnel who have reached the rank of sergeant or above into warrant officers. Warrant officers are the subject matter experts in their field and generally stay in the same occupational field they held while enlisted, according to recent WOBC graduate WO1 Charles Aaron, officer-in-charge of the Outbound Section of the Installation Personnel Administration Center.

Staff Sgt. Bryan Liciaga-Recci, administrative chief for the base commander, Marine Corps Base Quantico, is one of the recent selectees to the program and will attend the course that begins Jan. 27.

Liciaga-Recci, born in Puerto Rico and raised in Gainesville, Florida, was the first member of his immediate family to join the military. He graduated from P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School in Gainesville at 17 and wanted to enlist right away. It took him over a month to convince his mother to sign the age waiver so he could enlist at 17, but eventually he convinced her to give her permission. Liciaga-Recci said that today she is very happy and proud of him.

According to Aaron, Liciaga-Recci can expect to spend time in both the classroom and the field. There are classes on tactical topics such as offensive and defensive combat, and day and night land navigation, as well as administrative topics such as fitness report writing and the Uniformed Code of Military Justice. There are also field exercises, weapons training and lengthy hikes with a full complement of gear. Aaron said he felt the students spent “a sufficient amount of time in the field learning the fundamentals of accomplishing the Marine Corps mission.”

Because the WOBC takes place at TBS, the warrant officer candidates have a lot of opportunity to interact with the brand-new second lieutenants going through their own six-month course of training. While Aaron said the warrant officer candidates did not instruct the lieutenants in an official capacity, they are able to share their knowledge with them about working with enlisted personnel and the various military occupational specialties.

Liciaga-Recci said his inspiration for applying to the program was “a couple warrant officers who had made an impact” on him throughout his career. He said “they guided me in the right direction,” and he wanted the opportunity to do the same for other young Marines in the future.

• Date Taken: 12.18.2014
• Date Posted: 12.18.2014 11:11
• Story ID: 150625
• Location: QUANTICO, VA, US
• Hometown: GAINESVILLE, FL, US