LAVA SPOTLIGHT

Staff Sergeant Rex Tamba, UMSC 

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          Staff Sergeant (SSgt) Tamba was born and raised in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa.  Upon graduating from the Saint Mary High School in 2012, he enrolled at the Booker Washington Institute (BWI) in Kakata, Liberia where he studied electronics for 2 years.  After graduating BWI, he won the Diversity Visa (DV) also known as the Lottery Visa and immigrated to the United States on 16 October 2015.  The Queen City/Charlotte, NC is where it all began.  He claims Charlotte as his home of record in the United States. 

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          SSgt Tamba enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 17 July 2017 and graduated recruit training/Boot Camp from the Parris Island Recruit Depot in South Carolina.

“I enlisted in the military because I was not satisfied with the jobs I had in Charlotte. Watching my friends who moved to the United States years before me doing the same jobs without making any progress was not the future I envisioned.  I wanted a better life, the opportunity to travel the world, and the ability to support my family back home.  I chose the Marine Corps because I wanted to challenge myself, having heard it was the toughest branch, and I aspired to be part of the best.”

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          Upon successful completion of the Marine Corps Motor Transportation Mechanic course, he was awarded the 3521 Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) as an Automatic Maintenance Technician commonly known as Motor-T Mechanic.  The Automotive Maintenance Technician services, inspects, maintains, and repairs motor transport equipment at the field level.

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SSgt Tamba’s Goals:

- Complete his Special Duty Assignment as a Drill Instructor

- Finish all Professional Military Education courses in his MOS Road Map

- Achieve the rank of Master Sergeant

- Obtain a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity

- Retire after 20 years of service

 

SSgt Tamba’s duty stations include:

- Marine Air Control Squadron 4 (MACS-4) from March 2018 to March 2021, Okinawa, Japan. While in Japan, he executed a Temporary Duty Assignment to South Korea (Camp Humphreys) from August 2018 to January 2019 in support of an exercise. 

- 5th Battalion, 14 Marines, Headquarters Battery, Seal Beach, CA Naval Weapons Station from 2021 to present. 

 

          SSgt Tamba was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant on 5 September 2024, and he was pinned by his dear mother who immigrated to the United States few months ago to live with him.  SSgt Tamba is scheduled to report for the Marine Corps Drill Instructor School, San Diego, CA in October 2025 to become a Drill Instructor.