MOBILE, Ala. -- While in high school, Staff Sgt. Gabriel A. Little saw his brother transform from a typical teen to a confident individual during his tour as a mortarman in the Marine Corps. When he graduated from Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, Indiana, in 2013, he decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps and enlisted. Seven years later, he finds himself guiding young men and woman as they pursue their dreams of becoming U.S. Marines as well.
Little’s primary military occupation specialty is 2887 Artillery electronics maintenance technician. This specific MOS is a rare one in the Marine Corps. Little had to attend two different schools in one year at Twentynine Palms, California and Fort Sill, Oklahoma, but he is now one in just eleven Marine staff noncommissioned officers with this occupation in the entire Marine Corps.
“My MOS is very technical and I enjoy working with electronics, diagnosing equipment, and overall fixing things,” said Little. “I like being at a point of friction for the artillery community and conducting in-field maintenance. It also gives me the opportunity to be in the midst of the ground operations.”
After a successful tour in Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii with Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Corps Regiment from 2014-2018, Little decided to volunteer for recruiting.
“I enjoy being the first image of the Marine Corps to young men and women across my (area of operations),” said Little, who now serves as a canvassing recruiter with Recruiting Station Montgomery, in Alabama. “I enjoy being able to educate a young man or woman to make this life-changing decision, which has helped me greatly in life. I come from a rough upbringing. My mother was a single mom raising two kids, so I can identify with a lot of the individuals I speak to on a daily basis. I get to influence the next generation of the Marine Corps by my actions as a recruiter.”
Little works out of Recruiting Substation Mobile and is one of 45 canvassing recruiters at Recruiting Station Montgomery. RS Montgomery is responsible for finding quality young men and women and preparing them for transformative training held at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina.
“There’s always going to be the thing in the back of your mind that’s going to pull you away from making a decision such as the Marine Corps,” said Little. “But just like the commercials say, you have to just jump in, and let the Marine Corps embrace you with the challenge and pride it offers.”
For more information about RSS Mobile or recruiting operations at RS Montgomery, please contact Cpl. Terry D. Haynes, the marketing and communication chief at terry.haynes@marines.usmc.mil.