U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Richard W. Babb pauses while giving a speech during his retirement ceremony at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md., June 20, 2014. The Trinidad native enlisted in the Marine Corps on August 1, 1984 and following recruit training went on to become a combat engineer. Babb deployed to the Mediterranean, North Africa, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the South China Sea and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was also assigned to the Marine Corps Research and Development and Acquisition Command at Quantico, VA as a test operator of prototypes in the Emerging Technology and Mine/Counter-mine Warfare Systems section. In 1995, Babb reported for recruiting duty in Washington D.C. and has worked within the Marine Corps Recruiting Command for the past 18 years, serving in various positions such as canvassing recruiter, sub-station commander, assistant recruiter instructor and recruiter instructor. In September 2008, Babb was assigned to be the recruiter instructor for RS Baltimore, which would be his final duty station. Babb’s dedication to his duties directly influenced RS Baltimore’s success, earning them recognition by the Commandant of the Marine Corps as one of the superior recruiting stations in the nation for the years of 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Bryan Nygaard/Released)