thedrifter
07-14-08, 07:52 AM
Pacific Spotlight: Marine 1st Sgt. Charles Hutto
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, July 14, 2008
Charles, the first thing someone notices about you is that you are bald. Is that a choice or genetically determined?
I choose that. Haircuts are very expensive.
Especially at Marine Corps standards!
When I was a drill instructor I had to get two haircuts a week. They cost between $6 and $11. I have been shaving it bald the last five years, but prior to that, I cut my own hair for 13 out of the 16 years I’ve been in the Marines. I figure I have saved myself somewhere in the neighborhood of $19,000. I’ll be bald any day to save that kind of money.
What award or honor are you most proud of?
The first thing that comes to mind is an Outstanding Volunteer Service Award I received in Vista, Calif., for teaching free karate lessons to underprivileged kids. It’s a good deal when you get youngsters excited about learning and asking you questions.
Being a first sergeant, what types of responsibilities are on your shoulders?
I do everything from awards to disciplinary action; I take care of pay, home problems and a whole gamut of things. I have the largest company in the battalion, with 255 Marines and sailors. We have almost 100 more people than other companies around us, but we have double the awards and the least amount of incidents.
And you put on "Friday Night Fights" as a way to deter weekend carousing, right?
We were here two months, and we had a couple drinking incidents, and we ... pitched to the colonel the Friday Night Fights, where every Friday night on the softball field at 1900 we would put on some entertainment by giving the Marines who have differences with each other an opportunity to sign up and duke it out in a controlled environment.
Is hitting Marines really more popular than hitting the bars?
We know "Friday Night Fights" is popular because before we left on the Essex for deployment, we had about 400 on the softball field watching 12 to 13 fights. We make it regimented, so we have medical corpsmen present, and I referee each fight to make sure it is done correctly. But we also allow the folks to bring their drinks to the fights and enjoy themselves.
Did you enjoy being a boot camp drill instructor in San Diego?
With 16 to 18 hours spent mostly on your feet plus the hours needed to prepare your uniform, it made for a vigorous couple of years. Even though I was only an hour away from home, for the first few months I was a drill instructor, my kids thought I was in Japan on deployment because I would get home at midnight sometimes and have to be at work by 4:30 in the morning. In many ways that’s worse than a deployment; Your family is there, but you’re not. That was my most challenging assignment.
Marine 1st Sgt. Charles Hutto
Age: 37
Claim to fame: Martial arts instructor, a company first sergeant in Battalion Landing Team 2/4
Location: Camp Hansen, Okinawa
Interview by Paul Newell. Know someone whose accomplishments,
talents, job, hobby, volunteer work, awards or good deeds qualify them for 15 minutes of fame? How about someone whose claim to glory is a bit out of the ordinary — even, dare we say, oddball? Send the person’s name and contact information to: news@pstripes.osd.mil.
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, July 14, 2008
Charles, the first thing someone notices about you is that you are bald. Is that a choice or genetically determined?
I choose that. Haircuts are very expensive.
Especially at Marine Corps standards!
When I was a drill instructor I had to get two haircuts a week. They cost between $6 and $11. I have been shaving it bald the last five years, but prior to that, I cut my own hair for 13 out of the 16 years I’ve been in the Marines. I figure I have saved myself somewhere in the neighborhood of $19,000. I’ll be bald any day to save that kind of money.
What award or honor are you most proud of?
The first thing that comes to mind is an Outstanding Volunteer Service Award I received in Vista, Calif., for teaching free karate lessons to underprivileged kids. It’s a good deal when you get youngsters excited about learning and asking you questions.
Being a first sergeant, what types of responsibilities are on your shoulders?
I do everything from awards to disciplinary action; I take care of pay, home problems and a whole gamut of things. I have the largest company in the battalion, with 255 Marines and sailors. We have almost 100 more people than other companies around us, but we have double the awards and the least amount of incidents.
And you put on "Friday Night Fights" as a way to deter weekend carousing, right?
We were here two months, and we had a couple drinking incidents, and we ... pitched to the colonel the Friday Night Fights, where every Friday night on the softball field at 1900 we would put on some entertainment by giving the Marines who have differences with each other an opportunity to sign up and duke it out in a controlled environment.
Is hitting Marines really more popular than hitting the bars?
We know "Friday Night Fights" is popular because before we left on the Essex for deployment, we had about 400 on the softball field watching 12 to 13 fights. We make it regimented, so we have medical corpsmen present, and I referee each fight to make sure it is done correctly. But we also allow the folks to bring their drinks to the fights and enjoy themselves.
Did you enjoy being a boot camp drill instructor in San Diego?
With 16 to 18 hours spent mostly on your feet plus the hours needed to prepare your uniform, it made for a vigorous couple of years. Even though I was only an hour away from home, for the first few months I was a drill instructor, my kids thought I was in Japan on deployment because I would get home at midnight sometimes and have to be at work by 4:30 in the morning. In many ways that’s worse than a deployment; Your family is there, but you’re not. That was my most challenging assignment.
Marine 1st Sgt. Charles Hutto
Age: 37
Claim to fame: Martial arts instructor, a company first sergeant in Battalion Landing Team 2/4
Location: Camp Hansen, Okinawa
Interview by Paul Newell. Know someone whose accomplishments,
talents, job, hobby, volunteer work, awards or good deeds qualify them for 15 minutes of fame? How about someone whose claim to glory is a bit out of the ordinary — even, dare we say, oddball? Send the person’s name and contact information to: news@pstripes.osd.mil.