Willie J. Anderson

November 12, 2019 - 11:47 AM

Gunnery Sergeant
United States Marine Corps
21 Years of Service
Mt. SAC Alumni

During high school, Gunnery Sergeant Anderson took 3 years of R.O.T.C. which guaranteed that he would enter the military meritoriously as a Lance Corporal (E-3).  He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in February 1982 under the delayed entry program at the age of 17 years old.  He officially went to boot camp in September of that same year in San Diego, California.  During boot camp, he excelled in the 3rd Training Battalion under the tough regiment that the Corps is known for. 

After graduating, he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California in 1st Combat Engineer Battalion where he was meritoriously promoted 2 more times, ultimately achieving the rank of Sergeant (E-5) within his first 4 years.  After re-enlisting for 6 additional years when his contract was up, he went on a unit deployment in the Western Pacific where training was conducted in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Philippines, South Korea, and Mainland Japan before returning to Camp Pendleton. 

While at Pendleton, he was then ordered to Somalia, Africa for a humanitarian mission where he picked up the rank of Staff Sergeant (E-6).  Upon his return from Africa, he was selected for recruiting duty in Chicago, where he and his family spent the next 3 years, at which time he was promoted to GySgt (E-7). While in Chicago, he received an order for an accompanied tour to Okinawa, Japan for 3 years working at the Facilities Engineers as Project Manager at Headquarters Base.   He then was transferred to Inspector/Instructor duty in Pasadena, California where he eventually retired with 21 years of faithful service in August of 2004.  He has been married for 27 years and has 3 children.  He often looks back on his career as a huge blessing in his life and the life of his family.