Photo By Keith Hayes | Lance Corporal Lavarius Dirdon, and PFC Paola Verdugo, inspect a new...... read more read more
The Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2019 is Sgt. Jeffrey Xochicale from S-4 Supply aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California.
Xochicale joined the Marine Corps in August 2014 right out of high school, and went to recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California.
He took his Military Occupational Specialty training in logistics and supply at Camp (SgtMaj Gilbert H.) Johnson, North Carolina, part of the Camp Lejeune complex. From there, he went to Camp (Sergeant Elbert L.) Kinser in Okinawa, Japan.
During that period, the sergeant spent six months in Australia as part of the Marine Rotational Force Darwin. His job was to order parts for vehicles used by the joint training group.
After returning from MRF Darwin duty, Xochicale was transferred to MCLB Barstow, arriving in June 2017.
“I wasn’t even aware there was a Marine base in Barstow,” he said. “When I first got here I thought it was a desolate place, but after a month, I realized how strategically located the base was to transportation routes and to places you could go to for entertainment.”
The Los Angeles native is a busy man holding down three jobs aboard base.
“Besides disposition chief for supply I’m also the barracks manager and the color sergeant,” Xochicale explained.
“I really don’t mind doing the color sergeant duty,” he said. “If I do it then that frees up some Marine so they can enjoy their weekend.”
As disposition chief, Xochicale takes all of the obsolete or surplus equipment and sends it to the Defense Logistics Agency where it can be sold as surplus.
“That way the equipment can be reused and reutilized by the public,” Xochicale said.
The sergeant also mentors three other Marines in his section, coaching them not to expect recognition for what they do, just follow the rules and get the job done.
“I try to teach the Marines I mentor that it may not seem like they’re doing important work, but they are making a difference if you look at the bigger picture,” he said.
Lance Corporal Lavarius Dirdon, from Compton, Calif., works with the NCO of the Quarter, and appreciates the way he handles people.
“Sergeant X tries to bring it down to your experience level and tries to figure out why you did what you did rather than yell at you,” Dirdon said. “I like his leadership style.”
“I trust Sgt. X,” said PFC Paola Verdugo, a native of Denver City, Texas. “I can talk with him. He’s a good sergeant.”
True to his own coaching, Xochicale did not do his job for the recognition.
“If someone wants to recognize me for that then I am grateful, but I don’t expect it,” he said.
He also is taking college courses to work toward a degree in business.
“If I do well then I’ll take more courses,” Xochicale said. “If I don’t do well, then I’ll work even harder.”
The sergeant’s leadership style and his selfless devotion to duty has earned him NCO of the Quarter recognition, but Xochicale sees it as just doing what he is supposed to do, and taking care of his Marines.
“If you take care of them they perform better because they want to,” he explained
| Date Taken: | 04.11.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 04.17.2019 13:23 |
| Story ID: | 318504 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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