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MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. — When he enlisted as a bulk fuel specialist in 1995, 1st Lt. Adrian Gutierrez never thought that he would receive a leadership award as military police officer.
“Being selected for this award is very humbling and an awesome experience,” said the El Paso, Texas native who resides in Escondido, Calif. “Not once did I ever think that I would be selected for such an award especially in law enforcement.”
Gutierrez, the executive officer of Military Police Company, Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, received the 2011 Kallstrom Leadership Award during the 2012 Seniors Leaders Security Conference Awards Banquet, March 7, at MCRD San Diego, Calif., the depot where he served as a drill instructor from 2001 to 2004.
The award is one of many for the Gutierrez who has served in numerous capacities throughout the Corps and was accompanied by his wife, Grace.
The leadership honor is one of two; the other Kallstrom award is for bravery. They are the only military occupational-specific tribute available for Marine Corps military police officers since the program originated in 2009.
“The Kallstrom Awards are specific to Military Police personnel,” said Capt. Wayne A. Carr, the operations officer of the Law Enforcement and Corrections Branch, Headquarters Marine Corps. “It is specific only to Marines because we did not have an award specific to our community. When we looked across the spectrum of the entire military police community and all the things we do, with Marines on patrols daily in Afghanistan or on an installation, we never had anything like this.”
The awards are named for Jim Kallstrom, who served as a Marine Corps captain during the Vietnam War. After his time in the service Kallstrom continued his law enforcement career serving 28 years in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to MARADMIN 631/11 2011: “The nominee must exhibit qualities that have made an outstanding contribution to the development of espirit de corps, loyalty and mission accomplishment within their unit.”
“One of the things that set Lt. Gutierrez apart was the foundation of leadership he established in an austere environment,” said Carr, from Newark, Delaware, who serves as one of the six members of the selection board. “His summary of action placed him with a small detachment in Afghanistan working with the Afghan National Civil Order Police. Basically what set him apart in comparison to the others nominees, was the consistent threads of leadership. It was not just a single event or a single action; it was actions throughout the deployment and the expectation placed upon him in that specific billet and what he accomplished above and beyond that rung true to the board members.”
Gutierrez served as a police adviser team leader to the ANCOP while deployed to Sangin, Afghanistan with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. Before deploying, the battalion had been told that the ANCOP were the best trained police force, but upon their arrival they discovered this was not the case.
“When we arrived we found out that wasn’t the case. We had a very bad battalion commander and a very rough battalion,” said Lt. Col. Thomas B. Savage, the former battalion commander of 1/5. “Lt. Gutierrez was kind of thrown into the breach because we had to source a separate PAT. We didn’t really plan for this until the very end.”
With the last minute stand up of his team, Gutierrez had to assume the role of team leader and prepare for seven months as the chief counsel to senior Afghan commanders.
“Although he was just a second lieutenant, he was the adviser for a full Afghan colonel; which normally I wouldn’t do,” said Savage. “But his maturity, intelligence and previous experience as an enlisted man allowed me to put him in that spot to be the advisor.”
His advisory role required him to advise and train three different rotations of ANCOP throughout the deployment.
“Lt. Gutierrez was able to influence and mentor this full colonel who was 20 years older than him to do the right things for the right reasons,” said Savage.
On top of this, he rotated throughout the six forward operating bases where his detachment was split amongst. His superiors saw his consistent leadership as he went out on patrols with his men, sharing the burdens with them. Savage credited him with setting an example that infused his team with a sense of professionalism that the Afghan police emulated.
“He had a group of men who were obviously out in harm’s way all the time,” said Savage. “He was out with them counseling them and coaching them as a leader.”
Gutierrez acknowledges numerous staff non-commissioned officers and officers that have guided him throughout his career, but credits his father for making him the leader he is today. His father’s example of hard work and dedication, supporting a family and going to college fulltime, left a lasting impact on Gutierrez.
“It has definitely been the best leadership I could have ever learned. The way my father has raised me since I was a little boy,” said Gutierrez. “He has definitely been the mentor I would look up to.”
Being a fan of hard work and the success that comes from it is one of the things that made Gutierrez successful throughout his career and lead to the award.
“Any award that we get as leaders has to do with the hard work that our Marines do,” said Gutierrez. “I remember back when I was a young Marine, a staff NCO once told me that sometimes you are going to do hard work and do everything you are supposed to and sometimes you are not going to get recognized for that.
“Doing your job, doing it well and working hard day in and day out will eventually pay off,” said Gutierrez. “You will get recognized when you least expect it as such with this award for me.”
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2012 13:50 |
| Story ID: | 85109 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 180 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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