CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Chris Baker, deputy G-1 operations officer, II Marine Expeditionary Force, received the 2019 Marine Corps Manpower, Personnel and Administration Civilian Marine of the Year Award at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, June 11, 2020.
This award is presented to a civilian working for the Marine Corps for their exceptional work and accomplishments.
“It’s a true honor and very humbling,” said Baker, a Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, native. “While this is an individual award, it really is team oriented and I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done without the team around me.”
Baker coordinates the movement of personnel for 11 different rotational missions, as well as sourcing approximately six thousand personnel to various manpower requirements, which is equivalent to 14% of II MEF. As a lead architect, Baker received the award for his work in supporting II MEF’s force of 40 thousand assigned personnel by sourcing six thousand service members to various missions and ensuring units deployed at home or abroad were properly manned to execute their assigned missions. Baker also supported II MEF as an advocate at service-level coordination meetings, where he acted as an ambassador for his command.
“The most enjoyable part about what we do is being able to be a part of this team,” said Baker. “It’s great to interact with all the individual personalities around here and form them into a team that’s able to take the general’s guidance and be able to execute it and be able to provide feedback to him when necessary.”
After graduating from Kiski High School, Baker enlisted in the Marine Corps. Now a Marine Corps veteran, Baker uses his prior experience to understand his role and further develop himself in a leading manpower position.
“The main thing that I brought from my prior knowledge is you have to understand how a unit functions,” said Baker. “From there, you can understand what people they may need or what pieces are missing and be able to articulate that back to the planners so they can execute their mission intelligently.”
“Civilian Marine” was first used by Commandant of the Marine Corps General Charles Krulak in 2000. It has since come to denote the important role the civilian workforce provides to the Marine Corps.
For more information about the Marine Corps Manpower, Personnel and Administration awards, see Marine Administration Message 064/20.