Corps names first woman to serve as MEU sergeant major

Sgt. Maj. Lanette Wright will make history this week when she is named the Corps’ first female sergeant major of a Marine expeditionary unit.
Wright will take over as the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s sergeant major, the first female Marine to serve in that capacity since women began deploying with the units in the 1990s, according to a Marine Corps news release.

She’ll relieve Sgt. Maj. Octaviano Gallegos Jr., who is taking over as the sergeant major of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Gallegos will relinquish his duties with the 24th MEU during a ceremony aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., at 1 p.m. Friday.
Wright currently serves in the command inspector general’s office with 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune. She previously served as the sergeant major for Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265, according to her Marine Corps biography.
During that tour, she served as the air combat element sergeant major for two deployments with the 31st MEU. She was awarded the Commandant’s Aviation Trophy in 2009 from the Marine Corps Aviation Association, and the 2009 Aviation Safety Award from the chief of naval operations.
From there, Wright went on to serve as the sergeant major for Combat Logistics Regiment 27.
The 24th MEU will begin conducting pre-deployment training in about two months, and deploy to the Navy’s 5th Fleet area of operations roughly six months after that.

Source: Marine Corps Time