Photo By Sgt. Joseph Jacob | Sgt. Richard Gastelum poses for a photo with four of his poolees July 11, 2020....... read more read more
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ATHENS, Ga. -- Sgt. Richard B. Gastelum heard his brothers’ stories about the Marine Corps and then saw the transformation in his cousins. When he graduated from Edison High School in Fresno, California in 2014, all he wanted was the title Marine, but he’s come to see the opportunity as something more.
Within a year of receiving his coveted Eagle, Globe and Anchor, he graduated from paralegal school and became a 4421 legal special services clerk. Today, the 24-year-old travels throughout Jackson, Jefferson, Banks and Commerce counties as a recruiter with Recruiting Substation Athens, showing young men and women how they can replicate his rapid success.
“It’s almost like a normal job, but it comes with a lot of benefits,” said the unassuming Gastelum. “At the same time, there is a bigger picture of you serving your country.”
And serve he has. After graduating from the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island, in July of 2015, Gastelum deployed to Okinawa, Japan, where he worked as a legal services specialist at Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Butler for two years. From there, he transferred to Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms, California, and attached to the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based out of Marine Corp Base Camp Pendleton, California. As a member of the 13th MEU aboard the USS Essex, he participated in security and stability operations throughout Malaysia, Thailand, Bahrain, Kuwait, Djibouti, Syria, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Dubai from July 2018 – February 2019.
“Once I got to my actual unit, I just jumped straight into my actual job of working with lawyers, and that’s not something that a lot of high schoolers do,” said Gastelum.
Gastellum said he has earned credentials that make him more marketable since joining the Marines. While providing legal services, he enrolled in a program called the U.S. Marine Corps Apprenticeship Program and earned a two-year Journeyman’s Certificate as a paralegal. This technical certification is recognized by the Department of Defense and professional firms throughout the U.S. He also earned an associate degree in general studies from the University of Maryland, using free military tuition assistance worth $4,500 per year.
Gastelum has begun building his professional resume by earning two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. He earned his first for processing legal paperwork for approximately 175 cases and organizing evidence used for the deposition of almost 700 courts-martial investigations as a trial services organization clerk and complex trial team legal chief for MCB Camp Butler in Okinawa. He earned his second for his work as the legal chief of 13th MEU, where he processed more than 50 investigations and provided service to more than 1,000 Marines and Sailors.
“Overall, he cares more about taking care of individuals than himself,” said Staff Sgt. Brandon W. S. Gogal, the staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge of RSS Athens. “He’s selfless.”
Gastelum is one of 56 canvassing recruiters at Marine Corps Recruiting Station Columbia. RS Columbia is responsible for finding quality young men and women and preparing them for transformative training held at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. On average, RS Columbia operations span 24 offices over its 47,661 square miles of territory between South Carolina and Georgia.
| Date Taken: | 07.29.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2020 14:48 |
| Story ID: | 374843 |
| Location: | ATHENS, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 178 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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