Photo By Keith Hayes | (Left) Outgoing 1st Sgt. Neil Roselli listens as his replacement, 1st Sgt. Enrique De...... read more read more
Enrique De Anda first mustered out of the Marine Corps as a corporal 17 years ago, now he is the new Headquarters Company First Sergeant aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif.
First Sergeant De Anda took over the role of company First Sergeant June 17 from his predecessor 1st Sgt. Neil Roselli in a way that was unique to him.
“This is the first time I’ve actually had someone I was replacing still here to show me around,” De Anda said. “Usually, the person is already gone and you have to familiarize yourself with the job as you go. But I was fortunate to have 1st Sgt. Roselli here to introduce me to the Marines and the contacts I’ll need to do the job.” De Anda added he also had an opportunity to see firsthand how the Marines respected Roselli.
De Anda said he joined the Corps in 1997 and served until 2001 when his enlistment ended. For two years he worked at renting and leasing executive office space until the Iraq war effort prompted his reactivation into the Marine Corps from the Individual Ready Reserve in 2003.
“When I was recalled I served at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, while the Marines who were there were deployed to Iraq,” De Anda said.
Born in Salinas, Calif., De Anda first joined the Corps to escape the poverty of his youth and the gangs infesting the area. He came home from high school one day and found his father had invited a Marine Corps recruiter to his house.
“My dad saw the writing on the wall and didn’t think much of my friends’ activities, and he had good reason to,” he said. “The next thing I knew I was signing a contract and a few months later I was off to boot camp.”
De Anda said his father turned out to be right about the bleakness of his future if he stayed in Salinas because the summer he shipped out for boot camp three of his friends were murdered.
After getting out the first time, he thought he had missed his window of opportunity to reenlist, so the reactivation was the best thing for him.
“I missed it, the structure of the Marine Corps, the camaraderie,” De Anda said. “Everyone says when they’re in that they want to get out, but once you’re out, then you miss it. Once you get out, nobody cares about you. You have your 9 to 5 job, but you’re on your own.”
He has served as a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, and was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Calif., before the Base Realignment and Closure Commission shut the base down. “I was part of the group of Marines who were the last to be stationed there in ‘98.”
He then went on to MCAS Miramar, Calif.; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton; Marine Corps Forces, Europe in Stuttgart, Germany; MCAS Cherry Point, N.C.; MCAS New River, N.C., then back to MCRD, before his posting to MCLB Barstow.
As First Sergeant, the Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard falls under his responsibility, which is another first for De Anda.
“I didn’t even realize they existed. I mean I’ve seen them but I didn’t realize they were an organized command,” he said.
De Anda has already had a taste of the MCG routine when he went along as support for the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Mud Run, June 9.
“I got to see firsthand the kind of impact they have on the crowd,” he said. “What they do at the events is quite powerful to watch. They’re a magnet for the crowd.”
His most important job as the First Sergeant is to provide leadership for the Marines, to act as a mentor and share his military knowledge, the way he was mentored and taught during his career.
“My philosophy of leading is producing a better Marine,” De Anda said. “Showing them they don’t
have to be so close-minded. There’s more to the Marine Corps than just ‘doing my job.’ I want them to become better human beings. Period.”
As with most people who see MCLB Barstow, he spotted it from the I-15 Freeway on his way to Las Vegas.\
“I thought it was closed down until I received my orders and realized that it was still open,” De Anda said.
The size of MCLBB is a blessing in disguise according to him.
“The Marines are more mature here because they have to deal with so many civilians and also do community service work,” De Anda explained. “They realize that what they do has an impact on not just the base but the community at large.”
He intends to make the most of the second chance offered to him with his long-ago recall to active duty.
“I plan to continue with my career in the Marines until I’m old and brittle and too tired to continue, or the Marine Corps doesn’t want me anymore,” De Anda said. “I plan to go the Sergeant Major route and hopefully end my career the way it began at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.”
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2018 12:25 |
| Story ID: | 282648 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | SALINAS, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 169 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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