MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO -- Warrant Officer Andrew DuRivage
4th Platoon, India Company honor graduate
Hometown: Temecula, Calif.
Age: 29
MOS: 2120/Weapons repair officer
Previous post: Small arms repair instructor with the Marine Detachment at Army Fort Lee, Va.
Hobbies: Spending time with family, CrossFit, old cars and muscle cars
DuRivage was introduced to the Marine Corps at a young age by family friends who were part of Operation Desert Storm, and he spent four years in the junior ROTC program. “I’d always planned to make it a career, right from the get-go.”
After graduation, DuRivage is headed to the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa. There, he said, he wants to “do the ordnance community proud” and support the Marines under him. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the lowest Marines on the totem pole doing as well as they can — enabling them to get the mission accomplished and be good, productive citizens.”
Warrant Officer Crystal Black
6th Platoon, India Company
Hometown: Born at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., but considers Quantico, Va., her hometown.
Age: 28
MOS: 5702/Chemical biological radiological nuclear defense officer
Previous post: Staff noncommissioned officer in charge of inspections, Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Defense Platoon, 1st Marine Logistics Group, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Hobbies: Snorkeling and other ocean-related activities, running, CrossFit, volunteering at animal shelters, spending time with family
Born to Marine parents, Black said, she enjoyed the life that the Corps afforded her family and decided early on that she, too, wanted to do something that would have a positive impact on the world. “I realized at a young age that I wanted to grow up and be part of something larger than myself,” she said.
She is heading back to Camp Pendleton to join the 1st Marine Division. “I can’t wait to get back in the fleet and be around Marines and have a positive impact on my [military occupational specialty],” she said, noting that her favorite part of the job is working with and helping the Marines under her.
Warrant Officer Christopher Johnson
4th Platoon, India Company
Hometown: Tallahassee, Fla.
Age: 28
MOS: 6502/Aviation ordnance officer
Previous post: Aviation ordnance chief with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 14 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.
Hobbies: Spending time with family, fishing, playing guitar
After dropping out of high school and then earning his high school equivalency diploma at 18, Johnson decided he wanted “to do something where I was actually a contributing member of society,” he said. He went to talk to an Army recruiter about enlisting, but that recruiter had stepped out and he ended up talking to a Marine Corps representative instead. His family tried to talk him into joining another service, he said. “Because of their resistance to my decision, I said, ‘Alright, Marine Corps it is.’”
Johnson will return to Cherry Point as the aviation ordnance officer for Marine Attack Squadron 542. There, he said, “I definitely hope as I move forward that I can make the same positive impact on a lot of young Marines that those that came before me did for me.”