Marines


News
Base Logo
Official U.S. Marine Corps Website
Crossroads of the Marine Corps

Marine plays to success

31 Mar 2014 | Lance Cpl. Sarah A. Luna Marine Corps Base Quantico

She was just a sophomore at Frenship High School in 2010 when she met a man in blue, he made a request and that’s where it all began.

Cpl. Sarahlinna Guerrero dreamed of majoring in musical performance one day and being a part of an orchestra band doing what she loves.

Her dad was an auto technician teacher at her high school and the recruiter was very familiar with the teachers on campus. She walked to her dad’s class after school one day right after her dad mentioned her playing capabilities to the recruiter. When she arrived to the class the recruiter asked her if she was willing to audition for the Marine Corps Band, and she agreed.

“They were actually kind of mad that I was there because they were looking for juniors and seniors in high school and I was still a sophomore,” said Guerrero, a flute and piccolo player for the Quantico Marine Corps Band. “Out of the 30, or so, people that auditioned that day I was the only one who passed the audition.”

By her senior year she made up her mind about her future and enlisted in the Marine Corps. She left to basic training a week after high school graduation.

After basic and Marine Combat Training, Guerrero was finally in her way to doing what she loved. She spent about six months on Fort Belvoir, learning and practicing her the role she would fill in the Marine Corps.

Guerrero went above and beyond setting goals for herself as she always did throughout high school.

“She’s always been a very driven and determined person,” said Mario Guerrero, Cpl. Sarahlinna Guerrero’s father.

She was the guide of her schoolhouse platoon, the highest position of leadership a student can have. She also graduated with a score of 3.0, which is equivalent to the playing capabilities of a sergeant.

In April of 2013, she was on her way out of the schoolhouse. She said she was lucky enough to be able to choose between Okinawa, Japan, and Marine Corps Base Quantico.

“I originally wanted to come here and I’m sure Okinawa would have been a lot of fun, but I didn’t want to be that far away from my family at 19 years old,” she said.

During her time in Quantico, she’s been promoted to corporal, joined the Mount Vernon Community Band and began giving flute lessons to a beginner from the community that found her through Craigslist.

She said that they meet twice a week and even though her student is older than her, she is willing to do what it takes to learn how to play the flute. She also has administrative responsibilities in the band hall, and as a band member she is a part of the Security Augmentation Force for Marine Corps Base Quantico.

Her parents have influenced a lot of her decisions, but her passion is what has helped her reach every goal she has set for herself.

“Whether she pursues musical education or plays for a movie, I know that she is capable of accomplishing whatever she sets her mind to,” he said.

Correspondent: sarah.a.garcia@usmc.mil


Marine Corps Base Quantico