MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- Sitting in his "cage," Lance Cpl. Malik Scott-George cleans an M240 Bravo machine gun. His hands are covered with carbon as he works through the endless pile of parts, meticulously cleaning each one.
Scott-George, a 20-year-old native of Kissimmee, Florida and a graduate of Liberty High school, an armorer at The Basic School, Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia carefully inspects each weapon inside and out, looking for any signs of damage or carbon build-up. His concentration is unbreakable as he focuses on every little detail of the weapon to ensure he makes no mistakes.
"One day, you might come into work and sit in the cages all day cleaning weapons and joking with your friends," said Scott-George. "The next day, you might get to go out into the field and truly get to experience what the Marine Corps is all about."
Scott-George knew right away he wanted to be an armorer after enlisting. He felt it would give him a sense of adventure and purpose as he felt a strong attraction to the unique job field. In addition, the idea of working on, repairing and servicing different weapons systems was something that a few people get a chance to do.
"He's respectful and hardworking, and there's nothing bad to say," said Staff Sgt. Kevin Hoffman, an armorer and the non-commissioned officer-in-charge. "He makes sure people are doing the right thing, and he learns everything he can from his NCOs."
Scott-George's became interested in Marine Corps because he felt the need to better himself as a person and wanted to take on a new challenge in life.
"I chose the Marine Corps because I wanted to be challenged and to grow as a person," he said. "I've learned a lot of valuable skills and leadership traits, and I've gotten to do and experience things most people will never get to do or experience in their life."
He believes the skills and the leadership traits he has learned in the Marine Corps will be one of the most valuable assets he's taking away from the Marine Corps in the future, whether he decides to stay in or get out.
"The Marine Corps has taught me that there is no challenge too great for me to accomplish, and I can achieve whatever I put my mind to as long as I have the grit and determination to do it."
A majority of Scott-George’s family has served in the military, including the Marines. With that, he was able to enlist with the blessing from a family that supported his decision to join. His mom was his biggest supporter. She supported every decision he had ever made his whole life, especially when he decided to join the Marines. His mom had always been his biggest inspiration pushing him to be better and try to be paramount at everything he did.
"My mom took care of me my whole life, and she inspired me by working hard and pushing through the hard times. So whenever I come into hard times, I think of my mom, and I know I can do anything," he said while he carefully put away all the tools in his weapons cleaning kit.
Waking up every day and not knowing what he will do that day is one of his favorite parts of his job field. His personal experience in his military occupation has been unique because he is one of the few African Americans in the job field today.
"I am one of the few black armorers; there are not many of us," he said. "I'm the only one in my unit, so it has been a unique experience for me and a great experience as well, but one day I hope there are more of us in this job field, it's a great job that you can learn a lot from and has to be one of the most interesting jobs you can get."
"Being black in the Marine Corps is special to me, I think in part because there aren't that many of us in the Marines," Scott-George said. "We have the lowest amount of African Americans out of all the branches, and I hope one day that changes so we can become a more diverse and efficient fighting force."
Scott-George has always planned for the future, and he chose the Marine Corps over all of the other branches because he knew the Marine Corps could give him the tools and skills to help him succeed in the future that no other service could.
He will have to adapt in the near term as more responsibility could be coming his way.
According to Hoffman, Scott-George will have to become a leader in his unit very soon and will take on more responsibility.
"Pretty soon we will lose all of our senior Marines, and Scott-George is going to have to step up as one of the new senior Marines and take the reins of leadership," said Hoffman.
"The Marines is a great place to advance your path or career in life and a great place to learn a trade or skills that everyone can use down the road later in life no matter what job field you choose," said Scott-George.
After a productive day of work or free time over the weekend, Scott-George usually finds time to work on his car, a Subaru WRX.
"I love working on it and learning more about cars, figuring out what the different parts do and adding new stuff to my car or even just repairing something myself and saving a few dollars is just really satisfying to me, and it gives me something to do," he said.
Scott-George always tells everyone that joining the Marine Corps was the greatest decision he's made in his life. He encourages anyone thinking about joining the military to look into and research the
Marine Corps because he believes that once they learn about the process of becoming a Marine and what it means to earn the title, they won't even consider any other branch.
"To someone considering joining the Marine Corps," Scott-George said, "Do it; it will be the best decision you've ever made. There will be days when you wake up sore, or a PT session pushes you to your limit. Still, when you remember that you earned the title of United States Marine, that soreness leaves your body, and you blow past what you thought was your limit because you are a Marine, and very few people can say that they have earned that title."
Scott-George believes more diversity in the Marine Corps would make us stronger and create a stronger bond amongst Marines, which would create a more effective and more fearsome fighting force.