MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- U.S. Marines and Sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 24, Combat Logistics Regiment 27, 2nd Marine Logistics Groupwere recognized for their sustained superior performance during calendar year 2025 with the Lieutenant General “Chesty” Puller Award. The award was presented by U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Calvert Worth Jr., the commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force, at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, NorthCarolina, July 17, 2026.
“We demand excellence because you’re Marines,” said Worth. “We expect competence because you’re a logistics formation. It’s hard to be a Marine. It’s hard to maintain the standard. It’s hard being at the top of your game and staying there. That is the demand. That is the expectation of those who have served and those that will serve and those that are serving today.”
During calendar year 2025, CLB-24 personnel proved themselves exceptional at maintaining excellence in the fundamentals by improving capabilities, tactics, techniques and procedures.The II MEF Lieutenant General “Chesty” Puller Award serves as a benchmark of excellence. It is awarded to subordinate units that have shown outstanding ability and superior performance in supporting the II MEF mission while maintaining combat readiness, a positive command climate, and a commitment to esprit de corps.
According to Lt. Col. Travis Chamberlin, the commanding officer of CLB-24, the battalion’s motto “find a way or make one” is the mental foundation CLB-24 emphasizes at all ranks.
When submitting his team for the award, Chamberlin explained that the battalion focused on deliberate, command-led integration of physical, mental,spiritual readiness, and intentionally strengthened unit cohesion through healthycompetition. He shared how battalion leadership prioritized mental and spiritual readiness with rank-specific breakout groups that provided a secure environment for Marines and Sailors of all ranks to share perspectives and build trust.
In 2024, the unit, comprised of approximately 300 Marines and Sailors, returned from supporting the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and immediately began advancing their operational readiness and global deployment capabilitiesthrough a rigorous continuum of maritime and field training exercises.
During this highly operational period, CLB-24 maintained peak combat readiness across tactical patrolling, field survival, engineering, vehicle operations, and logistics. The battalion proved its capabilities as a rapid-response force through mission rehearsals aboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1) for Defense Support of Civil Authorities, while simultaneously passing three formal inspections. This included auditing more than 3,289 pieces of equipment, where the unit achieved near-perfect compliance rates of 97 percent for equipment maintenance and 99 percent for inventory accounting.
Worth thanked the Marines and Sailors for keeping their warrior mindset, stating that the battalion was part of the legacy of the Marine Corps and in a time of war and under the hardest circumstances, had been purpose-built to deliver capabilities. Worth went on to describe the necessity of the battalion’s logistical support to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force, stating “Amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics.”
The sentiment was mirrored by Chamberlin, who previously stated the unit has proven itselfthrough several quantifiable achievements in operational support, training, career development, innovation, and force preservation. He stated the battalion continues to grow in proficiency and remains ready for the mission sets it will be tasked with in the future.
“The battalion’s performance in 2025 proves that regardless of the operational tempo, CLB-24 will continue to operate at the most impressive standard,” wrote Chamberlin in his nomination letter.“Through superior performance in every measurable category, operational, logistical, and administrative, CLB-24 has proven itself to be the epitome of a ready and versatile force. The battalion’s unwavering commitment to mission accomplishment, materiel readiness, and the welfare of its personnel makes it exceptionally deserving of the honor and recognition conferred by the Lieutenant General “Chesty” Puller Award.”
The work done by the battalion not only earned them recognition with this award but also ensured their versatile interoperability efforts prepared them for forward deployment. In 2026, CLB-24proved its operational readiness during January and February at Mountain Training Exercise 1-26 and they continued to sustain expeditionary excellence from April through July as the operational command element for Marine Rotational Force-Europe 26.1 and MRF-E 26.2.
When recognized during the award ceremony for his impacts to the unit, Gunnery Sgt. Angel Garcia, a logistics chief with CLB-24, and New Jersey native, was asked to share his leadership philosophy. “We are the unit,” said Garcia. “Every day when we go home, we have to think, ‘what did I do to make this a better place? To make the Marine Corps better?”