Modern Day Marine 2019

Michael Barrett




Sergeant Major Barrett was born in 1963 and grew up in the Upstate New York town of Youngstown. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on March 16, 1981, and underwent recruit training at Parris Island, SC, and completed the School of Infantry at MCB Lejeune, NC. He was then ordered to 1st Battalion 4th Marines and stationed at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Training Center Twentynine Palms, CA. He attended Ranger School, and served as a rifleman, grenadier, fireteam leader, squad leader, and platoon sergeant, meritoriously promoted up to the rank of sergeant. in 1984, he received orders to serve as an Inspector-Instructor for 2nd Battalion 25th Marines at New Rochelle, New York. In 1987, Sergeant Major Barrett was assigned to 3rd Battalion 9th Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, CA, and trained as a Scout Sniper to serve as platoon sergeant for the Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) platoon. In this capacity he deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Promoted to first sergeant in 1998, Sergeant Major Barrett was transferred to 3rd Battalion 4th Marines at Twentynine Palms, CA. He was promoted to sergeant major in 2002, and assigned to Recruiting Station Cleveland. In 2005 he joined 2nd Battalion 7th Marines at Twentynine Palms, CA, and participated in two combat deployments to Iraq. In 2007 he was selected to be the Officer Candidates School Sergeant Major at Quantico, VA. In 2009, he was selected as the sergeant major of 1st Marine Division, and deployed to Afghanistan as the I Marine Expeditionary Force/Regional Command Southwest sergeant major the following year. On April 11, 2011, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps General James F. Amos announced that Barrett would serve as the 17th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps.

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