Upon graduation from boot camp at MCRD San Diego and Basic Infantry Training at Camp
Pendleton, he was ordered to Naval Weather Schools at NAS Lakehurst
N.J. and
then to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at El Toro California. During 1968, he was temporarily assigned to
an I & I Staff in Jackson
Mississippi and participated in
casualty calls
and funeral details. After
graduating from the Navy’s Weather
Forecaster School
in 1971, he spent a year working with choppers at MCAS (H) Tustin
before being ordered to West
Pac in
1972. He was ordered to the 1ST MAW MAG
15 in Nam Phong “Rose Garden” Thailand
in support of operations in Vietnam,
Laos,
and Cambodia. He returned to the States in 1973 briefly
before going back to West Pac for a tour on Okinawa
1974-1975.
Upon return, he was ordered to Instructor duty at NAS Lakehurst
and a second tour of Instructor duty at Chanute Air Force Base Illinois.
After teaching basic and advanced students,
all services, civilians, as well as foreign students
,
he was given the designation
as
Master Instructor
by the Air Force.
In 1979, he returned to the 1
ST
MAW at MCAS
Iwakuni Japan,
participating in
operations including Team Spirit in
Korea.
After completing the tour in
Japan,
he
returned to the 3
RD
MAW
at MCAS El Toro.
While with the 3
RD
MAW, he participated in exercises at MCB
Twentynine
Palms as well as MAG 70 Rapid Deployment Force.
The
last few years prior to retirement he served as the
NCOIC of Weather
Service at MCAS El Toro and was retired as a Master Sgt after
completing over 20 years on January 1, 1987.
In February of 1991, he was called back to
active duty and
ordered to MCAS Cherry Point North Carolina in support of operations
during
Desert Storm.
He returned to retirement and home to
California
in May of 1991.
Sgt Major Baum
has twice been awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the
Navy
Unit Commendation, Marine Corps Good Conduct
Medal
, National
Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medal,
Vietnam
Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Vietnam Civil
Actions Unit
Citation, and the
Republic
of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Military schools include the Navy AG A and AG B Schools,
Advanced Meteorology, Weather Satellite, and Weather Radar Schools,
Instructor
Schools (Navy & Air Force), and NCO and Staff NCO Leadership
Schools.
After attending 6 Colleges at
various duty
stations, Sgt Major Baum completed studies at
Chapman
College in
Orange,
CA.
Sgt Major Baum
is the senior enlisted and serves as the National Command
Sergeant Major for
the United States
Volunteers/Joint Services Command.
