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JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, Va. - April 10 promises to be a bittersweet day for Headquarters and Service Battalion, Headquarters Marine Corps Henderson Hall Sgt. Maj. Craig D. Cressman.
After a 31-year career, Cressman will retire from the Marine Corps in a ceremony set for 10 a.m. at Henderson Hall.
“I’ve been in the service since I was 17 years old,” Cressman told the Pentagram during an interview in his office in Building 29 on the Henderson Hall portion of the joint base. “This is who I am.”
Cressman entered the Marine Corps via the delayed entry program in 1984 and has served as H&S Battalion sergeant major since 2012. He said joining the military is one of the greatest decisions a person can make.
“It changed my life,” he said. “The organization changed my life.”
Cressman’s path to being the 20th senior sergeant major in the Marine Corps took him from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, to Camp Geiger, North Carolina; Guantanamo Bay; Parris Island, South Carolina; Quantico, Virginia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and to the battlefield in Iraq.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the Marines I’ve served with,” he said.
Noting that JBM-HH is the Corps’ only joint base, Cressman said the installation has a unique dynamic.
“I think the opportunity that the Marines get to work with the Army, the Air Force and the Navy here is beneficial. I love it,” he said. “I love my job. I love coming into work. I’m going to miss it.”
Cressman is the only senior enlisted service member on the joint base to have served under two Army and two Marine commanders on Fort Myer and Henderson Hall. On the Army side, he served under former commander retired Col. Fern O. Sumpter and current commander Col. Mike Henderson. On the Marine side, Cressman served under Col. Ira Cheatham and current commanding officer Col. Anthony S. Barnes.
“Sgt. Maj. Cressman was both a teacher and a scholar and exemplified the vital characteristic of the Corps as outlined by Maj. Gen. John A. Lejeune,” said Barnes. “Though Sgt. Maj. Cressman is retiring, his impact will be upon the Marine Corps for years to come as a result of his dedicated mentorship of NCO’s, SNCO’s and officers alike. He is the best sergeant major I have served with, and I am honored to be his friend.”
Cressman credited several achievements with developing the familial feeling that permeates the joint base. Among them was last year’s Urban Warrior Challenge, which pitted members of the service branches against each other in a friendly competition on the athletic field.
“The joint base is a family now,” he said. “That didn’t exist when I got here. This is the best working joint base in the nation.”
Cressman recently joined Marines who were participating in the Corporal’s Course in a tour of the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
“These young Marines, with maybe less than two years in the service, were able to think through the tactics and the resources required and the operational aspects of Gettysburg,” he said. “I was impressed with that level of thought, and they didn’t take it lightly. It means something to them. This is their profession.”
He said the memory he’ll cherish the most from his time at Henderson Hall is watching the Marines assigned here grow professionally and personally.
“I checked in with a PFC,” Cressman said. “He’s now a corporal.”
Cressman also lauded Henderson Hall’s volunteer program and the customer service civilian employees offer to service members and their families.
“We have a phenomenal volunteer program that’s locally and nationally recognized and provide outstanding customer service,” he said. “It’s not just one person.”
Cressman characterized the man who will replace him, Sgt. Maj. Robert Pullen, as “a grunt like me” with a laugh. Pullen currently serves as sergeant major of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 16:25 |
| Story ID: | 158227 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MYER-HENDERSON HALL, VA, US |
| Hometown: | GLADWIN, MI, US |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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