Louisville, KY -- After capping off a successful tour in one of the Marine Corps’ most demanding duties, Maj. Scott Stephan relinquished his post as commanding officer of Recruiting Station Louisville, 4th Marine Corps District, to incoming commanding officer, Maj. Donald Hotchkiss, in a change of command ceremony held at the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs June 26.
Stephan, a native of Mobile, Ala., is a May 2000 graduate of the Citadel in Charleston, S.C., with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He completed the Basic School and Infantry Officer Course before reporting to his first unit, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment at Marine Corps Base, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Stephan served as a rifle platoon commander, weapons company executive officer and company commander with 3rd Bn., 2nd Marines, deploying to Japan and Iraq while serving with the unit as well.
In 2004, he reported to the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, Calif., to serve as the officer in charge of the Mountain Leaders and Unit Operations Courses.
After leaving the warfare center, Stephan attended Expeditionary Warfare School and reported to 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment at MCB Camp Lejeune where he served as company commander and the battalion operations officer. While at 1st Bn., 9 Marines, he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Stephan took command of RS Louisville in June 2011. During the change of command ceremony, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal.
According to the award citation, during his tenure as commanding officer, Stephan led RS Louisville to be consistently one of the most successful recruiting stations for 4th Marine Corps District, contracting 1,971 future Marines from RS Louisville.
“I can honestly stand here and tell you that the command that Scott (Stephan) is turning over to Don Hotchkiss is twice the command it was 36 months ago,” said Col. Terence Trenchard, 4th Marine Corps District Commanding Officer.
Stephan will now be assuming his new position at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va.
Hotchkiss, a native of Huntsville, Ala., began his career in July 1996 as an enlisted supply administration specialist at Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, MCB Camp Lejeune, N.C. In 1999 and after his promotion to corporal, Hotchkiss was selected for the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Program.
After being promoted to sergeant in 2000 and completing the MECEP Preparatory School in San Diego, Hotchkiss enrolled at Auburn University and received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration in 2002. He completed the Basic School and the Logistics Officer Course and was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment at MCB Camp Lejeune in 2004.
Hotchkiss transferred to 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment in 2006 where he served as the battalion logistics officer and Headquarters and Service Company Commander. He reported to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. in 2007 where he served as series commander, company commander, operations officer and battalion executive officer.
In 2010, he transferred to EWS at MCB Quantico and completed his career-level professional military education.
Hotchkiss comes to RS Louisville from Combat Logistics Battalion 4 in Okinawa, Japan where he served as company commander of Motor Transportation Company A during a deployment to Afghanistan in 2011, and served as the battalion operations officer in 2012.
“Col. Trenchard, thank you for allowing me to come out here and command,” said Hotchkiss. “Scott and Jennifer (Stephan), thank you for the turnover. It has been outstanding. I am looking forward to this command, and moving forward. Scott you did a great job here.”