From Enlisted Marine To Battalion Commander
by U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Willow Marshall February
14,
2023
On January 6, 2023, Lt. Col. Clinton K.
Hall replaced Lt. Col. Robert M. Jones as the commanding officer of
2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
![U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Clinton K. Hall, the commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, stands by the 2nd Battalion's sign at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California on February 8, 2023. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Juan Torres)](../../images/2023/mc_ltc-clinton-hall020823.jpg) U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Clinton K. Hall, the commanding officer of 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division,
stands by the 2nd Battalion's sign at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
on February 8, 2023. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Juan Torres)
|
Hall is a Winnemucca, Nevada, native. He said he joined the Marine
Corps in 1997 because he was “unprepared to attend college, needed
some structure, and was looking for a challenge.”
Upon completing
his initial training pipeline as an infantry Marine, he checked into
3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton,
California. After deploying with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit,
he took the Surveillance and Target Acquisition platoon
indoctrination and became a scout sniper.
While Hall was a
scout sniper with the STA platoon, he deployed with a small unit to
Africa in support of Operation Resolute Response in 1999. Resolute
Response was the United States’ response mission in the aftermath of
the blasts at American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on Aug. 7,
1998, which killed more than 250 people, including 12 Americans, and
injured 5,000.
Hall left the Marine Corps when his contract
expired in December 2000; however, he reenlisted the following
summer.
“I chose to return to the Marine Corps primarily
because of the camaraderie in the teams, platoons, companies, and
battalions across the institution,” said Hall.
Upon
returning to the Corps, Hall checked into 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine
Regiment, 1st MARDIV, and deployed again on the 31st MEU to Japan.
During that deployment, he decided to submit an officer package
through the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program.
In 2003, Headquarters Marine Corps approved his application, and
Hall was on his way to earning his commission.
MECEP is an
enlisted-to-officer commissioning program designed to provide
outstanding enlisted Marines the opportunity to serve as Marine
Corps officers. A Marine must possess a minimum of 12 credit hours
toward a bachelor’s degree and seek a commission. Marines must be
between the age of 20 and 26 and, upon acceptance to the program,
will attend Officer Candidates School for 10 weeks before arriving
at a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps-affiliated college or
university to complete their bachelor’s degree. Once they complete
their degree, Marines earn a commission as a second lieutenant in
the Marine Corps.
“The training, education, and mentoring
that exists for those transitioning from enlisted to officer is a
time-proven process that effectively prepares those to use what is
valuable from their past experiences, but simultaneously realize
that their peers, without those experiences, are just as, if not
more, capable,” said Hall. “I chose to apply for a commission
because I recognized that the chain of command quickly departs from
the enlisted ranks and runs through officers. My ability to make an
impact would be best realized as an officer.”
Upon completing
MECEP, Hall reported to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. As a
first lieutenant, he deployed in support of Operation Enduring
Freedom. Deploying alongside Hall was then-gunnery sergeant, now
Master Gunnery Sgt. Shawn Hughes. Hall and Hughes served as scout
snipers in 3rd Bn., 5th Marines and have remained close for over
twenty years.
“Looking back on our careers as enlisted, and
now he as a lieutenant colonel leading one of the most decorated
battalions in the Marine Corps, makes you step back and think, man,
we’ve come a long way,” said Hughes, the operations chief for the
15th MEU. “Clint is a family man and servant leader that cares about
the Marines, sailors, and their families. Make no mistake; he has
always trained hard, ensuring that the Marines and sailors were
ready for anything that could arise.”
In the following years,
Hall served as an instructor at The Basic School at Marine Corps
Base Quantico, Virginia, and attended the Expeditionary Warfare
School and the Army’s Command and General Staff College in Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas. He then served as the commanding officer at
Marine Corps Recruiting Station San Francisco for three years.
When starting his career as an enlisted Marine, Hall was given
orders to 5th Marine Regiment. Now, he is serving as the commanding
officer of a different battalion with 5th Marines. This tour could
be his last or a stepping stone to the next.
“Never intended
to stay beyond four years,” said Hall, “yet here we are.”
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