[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 46 (Friday, March 10, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING SERGEANT MAJOR JASON M. CANTU

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KAY GRANGER

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 10, 2023

  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize my constituent, 
Sergeant Major Jason M. Cantu, who is retiring after 30 years of 
service to the United States Marine Corps.
  Sergeant Major Cantu enlisted in the Marine Corps in December of 1992 
and completed his recruit training in September of 1993. Following his 
training at the School of Infantry, he was assigned as an infantry 
machine gunner.
  Throughout his 30 years of service, Sergeant Major Cantu has been 
deployed all over the world. In his early years as a Marine, he worked 
in Cuba to help Haitian and Cuban migrant's humanitarian missions as 
well as being deployed to South America and West Africa as a part of an 
air/ground task force and training float.
  He was later reassigned Bravo Company 1st Battalion 2nd Marine 
Regiment where he was a machinegun section leader and deployed to the 
Mediterranean Sea as part of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. During 
this tour, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal, then Sergeant. 
After a brief stint with the Weapons Training Battalion in Quantico, 
VA, he returned to the 1st Battalion 2nd Marine Regiment in September 
2000. While with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment Sergeant Major 
Cantu, then a Sergeant, served as a section leader for the Combined 
Anti Armor Team. A year later, the battalion deployed to Okinawa, then 
Guam, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Then, in January 2003, 
the battalion deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  After serving as a Drill Instructor School at Marine Corps Recruit 
Depot, San Diego, CA, Cantu was assigned to the U.S. Naval Mission in 
Bogota, Colombia. After a stint in Colombia, and then Chile as a Marine 
Corps representative to the Chilean Marine Corps, Cantu was promoted to 
First Sergeant in September of 2008. He was deployed to support 
Operation Iraqi Freedom 9.1 as the Counterintelligence/Human 
Intelligence Company First Sergeant.
  Sergeant Major Cantu rose to his current rank in May 2013 and 
currently serves as the Squadron Sergeant Major for a Marine Heavy 
Helicopter Squadron.
  Sergeant Major Cantu's awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, 
Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with V and three gold stars, 
the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with two gold stars and the 
Combat Action Ribbon.
  He is the son of a 21-year career Marine and a brother to 7 siblings, 
6 of whom also served in the United States Marine Corps and the United 
States Navy and are comprised of non-commissioned and commissioned 
officers.
  Our country owes the men and women of the United States military an 
enormous debt of gratitude, and I would like to take this opportunity 
to thank Sergeant Major Cantu. It is service men like him that 
safeguard our liberties and allow the people of this great nation to 
live under a blanket of freedom.
  On behalf of the people of the 12th Congressional District of Texas, 
we appreciate his outstanding leadership and unwavering commitment to 
his country. It is my honor to congratulate Sergeant Major Cantu on a 
job well done.

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