Headquarters & Service Battalion, Headquarters Marine Corps, Henderson Hall bid farewell April 10 to one sergeant major and welcomed another during a relief and appointment ceremony held outside Bldg. 29 on the Henderson Hall portion of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall.
Sgt. Maj. Robert W. Pullen replaced Craig D. Cressman as battalion sergeant major during the time-honored and traditional ceremony. The event also doubled as Cressman's retirement ceremony from the Corps following his more than 31 years of service as a Marine.
In remarks immediately following the retirement portion of the ceremony, Cressman was introduced to the crowd as "Sgt. Major Craig D. Cressman, retired." Asking for an empty chair to be moved to the center of the field, Cressman explained that it represented family, friends and fellow Marines who could not attend the ceremony.
"I couldn't be more proud of any Marine, of all of you, of all of them," he said as he gestured toward the chair.
Cressman entered the Marine Corps via the delayed-entry program in 1984 and served as the H & S Battalion sergeant major since 2012.
"Sgt. Maj. Cressman, it's been my honor to serve with you," H & S Battalion Commander Col. Anthony S. Barnes said. "I couldn't ask for a better partner. Well done, good and faithful servant."
Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James M. Paxton called Cressman "a Marine's Marine."
"We're a better Marine Corps because Sgt. Maj. Cressman has been here 31-plus years," Paxton said.
Cressman held every billet in his military occupational specialty and molded enlisted Marines while serving on the drill fields of Parris Island, S.C., and young lieutenants while at Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., Paxton said.
"There's lieutenant colonels at the Pentagon who freeze on the sidewalk if they see him coming," he said to laughter from the crowd.
Pullen joined the Marine Corps in 1989 and comes to Henderson Hall from 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
"I'm here to work for the battalion," Pullen said. "Nobody works for me. I work for the battalion. I'm here to work for you."
Pullen served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and brings 26 years of experience to the billet Cressman held for three years.
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