Sergeant Major
The Sergeant Major of BLT 2/3 of 1979 was Sergeant Major Robert T. Elliott.
Sergeant Major Elliott was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 16, 1936. He was raised in Portsmouth, Virginia and joined the Marine Corps on March 28, 1955.
After completing recruit training at Parris Island, South Carolina, his early assignments were with the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Martine Division, and at Camp Fuji, Japan. In Japan he was promoted to Sergeant and also served with the Ryukyu Armed Services Police (RASP) on Okinawa.
Returning to the United States, Sergeant Major Elliott served in Quantico, Virginia, with the 2d Marine Division at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, and at the Correctional Facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
In 1967 he was again transferred overseas, this time to the Republic of Vietnam where, as a member of the Alpha Company, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with ‘V.’ After completing a year-long combat tour in Vietnam, he attended the 1st Sergeant’s School at Parris Island, and was once again assigned to the 2d Marine Division. In 1971 Sergeant Major Elliott returned to Okinawa and was assigned to Battery M, 4th Battalion, 12th Marines, 3d Marine Division.
Following this tour he joined the 3d Light Antiaircraft Missile (LAAM) Battalion at Cherry Point, North Carolina. In 1973 he was transferred to the Instructor-Inspector staff, Company C, 4th Motor Transport Battalion, Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
He was promoted to Sergeant Major in August, 1975 and transferred to the 1st Marine Brigade, MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. In Hawaii, he was the Sergeant Major of 2d Battalion, 3d Marines from 1975 to 1979, deploying on two occasions to the Western Pacific with BLT 2/3.
After Hawaii, he was assigned to MAG-13 in El Toro, California and as the Base Sergeant Major, Marine Corps Logistics Command, Barstow, California. He retired from active duty on March 1, 1986 after 30 years of honorable service to the Marine Corps.
Sergeant Major Elliott currently lives and works in Bellevue, Nebraska with his wife Linda and his daughter Shonnette.