Photo By Keith Hayes | Corporal Nicholas R. Davis, a native of Lynchburg, Va., is the Noncommissioned Officer...... read more read more
The Mounted Color Guard aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., has a lot of accomplishments under its collective belt, and now they can boast having both the Noncommissioned Officer and Marine of the Quarter working with them.
Corporal Nicholas R. Davis, stableman, is the NCO of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2018.
He has been working with the MCG for about seven months.
As with most of the Marines assigned to the MCG, the experience has been vastly different from what he had been doing in the Corps.
“I was in Okinawa, Japan, in law enforcement before I came to Barstow,” Davis said. “I was expecting to go to another Military Police unit at Quantico, Va., but my orders somehow got modified and I ended up here.”
“Here” ended up taking some getting used to, especially for the native of Lynchburg, Va.
“When I first arrived at MCLB Barstow I had a little culture shock,” he said. “The base was so much smaller than I’m used to.”
Being a novice with horses, as Davis was, is actually a positive as far as the MCG is concerned.
“One of the good things about not having any horsemanship ability when you come here is that you don’t have any bad habits,” Davis said. “The horse trainers will teach you everything you need to know.”
Learning to ride and care for horses also used a whole different set of muscles that are not ordinarily employed so vigorously.
“When I first started to learn how to ride a horse I got aches and pains in places I didn’t know I had,” Davis said. “Especially when working with the horse’s hooves because you have to squat a lot and it burns.”
Davis said he has always been a self-starter, and that may be one reason he was nominated for the recognition.
“I feel like one of the reasons I was chosen is because of my work ethic,” he said. “If I see something that needs to be done I just do it.”
That sentiment is echoed by Gunnery Sgt. Carlton Esswein, the Staff Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of the MCG, who said he nominated Davis for NCO of the Quarter because of his leadership abilities, hard work and being an all-around good Marine and a good person.
“He’s one of our more composed riders, he works hard, and he’s pretty much your model NCO,” Esswein said. “His demeanor, character, and moral strength made him a natural choice for the recognition. I would say he is one of the top NCOs on the base. He’s not just a good Marine but a good person as well, and that needed to be recognized.”
Davis went through boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., in June 2014. He said he plans to make a career out of the Marines.
His most recent appearance with the MCG was in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade, Jan. 1.
“Riding in the Rose Parade was exciting, there were a lot of people,” Davis said. “I really enjoyed it. I liked seeing the children come up after an appearance. They love the horses and want to pet them. Everyone we’ve encountered has been pretty good to us.”
He also has a sibling in the Corps.
“I have two older brothers,” Davis said. “One of them is in the Marines and stationed at (Marine Corps Base) Camp Pendleton and works in Combat Camera.”
Being in the MCG is something he would recommend to anyone and it has been a part of his career that he will never forget.
“If you like to travel then this is the job for you,” he said. “We’re gone more than 200 days out of the year.
| Date Taken: | 01.26.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.12.2018 13:38 |
| Story ID: | 265694 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Hometown: | LYNCHBURG, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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