Marine in the Spotlight

By MCSA Triniti Lersch, NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

Cpl. Dennis Griffith, originally a Caribbean native, moved to Houston, Texas, at the age of 12. Griffith, a perpetually active and high paced individual, participated in his high school’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, influencing his decision to join the United States Marine Corps in July 2017.

For the past eight months and counting, Griffith continues to play an integral role with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Africa 20.1 (SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1) disbursing department.

“Among his peers he stands out due to an unwavering blend of initiative, knowledge and uncompromising motivation,” said 2nd. Lt. Paul Armijo, Deputy Disbursing Officer SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1.

For his ability to inspire his fellow Marines and demonstration of herculean efforts in moments of uncertainty, Griffith received the Gung Ho Award for Outstanding Leadership. To earn the award a Marine must display the following criteria: possesses the intellectual honesty and moral courage to put aside self-interests for the good of his unit, demonstrate the tenacity and selfdiscipline that is in keeping with what is known as a “Can Do” attitude and the Gung Ho Fighting Spirit of the Marine Warrior, an individual who clearly exemplifies Marine leadership by example and fosters the concept of “working together” as a team (GUNG HO) and demonstrates a tireless and unselfish effort in taking care of Marines.

Griffith’s main responsibility is to execute cash payments to enable more flexibility in the procurement of supplies and services in austere environments.

The day-to-day life for Griffith mostly involves taking care of Defense Travel System (DTS) vouchers. This means he is responsible for ensuring that all the paperwork is filled out correctly so everyone in SMAGTF is reimbursed for any type of travel across his area of operation.

According to Armijo, Griffith demonstrates clear technical capabilities, selflessness and dedication to the mission.

“Corporal Griffith has been an instrumental part of the SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1 disbursing team due to his embodiment of a “mission first” mentality,” remarked Armijo. “Since arriving in Sigonella, Cpl. Griffith has devoted countless hours towards the approval of 698 personnel travel vouchers totaling 1.2 million dollars within the assigned area of responsibility.”

Winston Churchill once said, “Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm” and has become almost a life motto for Griffith. Griffith has shown himself to be a very enthusiastic, high moral, and happy person and says he believes “resiliency is one of the greatest things we have,” and applies this ethos to his day-to-day life or any tasks he undertakes.

In his spare time, Griffith enjoys giving back through community service because of the social interaction it entails. Even while deployed, he has completed 70.5 hours of community service so far during his time at SPMAGTF.

To top off his extra circular activities, he started working towards his degree in Kinesiology.

“Kinesiology is the understanding of the human body and I just love it,” stated Griffith. “Just understanding the body and what were capable of. We are limited with so much because of the mental block that we have, but if we are able to push ourselves even more by understanding what we are capable of, we can go beyond that point.”

Griffith’s next goal is to be a Force Fitness Instructor and a High Intensity Interval Training Instructor.

He feels that in the long run, when it’s time to get out of the Marine Corps, having this under his belt will benefit him as he accomplishes his Kinesiology degree.