Staff Sergeant Kristopher Warren, USMC, severed over 9 years in the United States Marine Corps with all years served on Camp Pendleton, California and Marine Corps Recruiting Depot (MCRD), San Diego, California. Born in Phoenix, Arizona and soon after moving with his mother and older brother to Portland, Oregon, he again moved to Great Falls, Montana with his grandmother who would assume parental rights when he was twelve. Living in Great Falls with no male figure to guide him, he slowly began to tote the line of becoming a trouble maker. He was relocated to Rimrock, Az. At the ag3 of sixteen to a boarding school which would help him regain the credits missed while in Great Falls, and would be closer to his father in Phoenix and older brother enrolled at Arizona State University.

Upon Graduating high school from Marcos De Niza in Tempe, Az. He moved to Springfield, Oregon to be reunited with his mother who abandoned him at twelve. While visiting, he found out he was to become a father and he decided right there that he was not going to be a no show dad. A good friend of his mother suggested he join the United States Marine Corps and told him all of the great things the Marines offered him in the late 60’s and early 70’s. He had no idea what each branch signified so a week later he was on an airplane ride to MCRD San Diego to become a United States Marine!

Upon completion of boot camp, he was sent to field training in camp Pendleton for an extra 3 weeks and when finished he had orders to immediately arrive in Lawton, Oklahoma where he would learn how to become an artillery cannoneer, King of Battle!!! Upon graduation from MOS school, he received orders to camp Pendleton 1st Marine Division, 5th Battalion 11th Marines, Tango Battery where he would serve his next 6 years and complete 3 deployments and record setting days in the field. In 1998, he deployed with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Battalion Landing Team 2/1 where they experienced the 1st and very last peace time float. On September 11, 2001, he was in 29 Palms conducting Desert Fire Exercise when he and the rest of his battery were informed of what happened in New York minutes earlier. His unit was set to deploy 1st of January, but with this horrific terrorist attack, his unit was pushed up to deploy in November with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Battalion Landing Team ¼ to conduct enemy combat operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. After 9 months on the ship, and numerous beer days, BLT ¼ had many false alarms to insert into Afghanistan but never touched ground. On this same deployment, his unit was assigned the role of patrolling the Kenyan border and push out and capture any suspected Somalia terrorist looking to escape into Kenyan and begin to terrorize the towards of Kenya. During this same assignment, his unit was tasked with teaching the Kenyan army offensive/defensive tactics to ward off any Somalia terrorists. Once returning home after this deployment, his unit performed numerous field operations that were geared towards the desert, which was a sign to his 3rd and final deployment to Iraq in January 2003, to conduct combat operations against Iraqi and insurgent forces and to ultimately dismantle Sadam Hussein’s regime. He deployed with 5th Bn. 11th Mar. and was immediately attached to Regimental Combat Team 5. During combat operations against the enemy, his unit was in every major fight from Basra all the way up to Tikrit with Task Force Grizzly to kill, capture, and clear out any remaining republican guard and ultimately locate Sadam Hussein in his hometown of Tikrit. During combat operations, he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with a combat V for heroism and valor and received an accelerated promotion to Staff Sergeant. During these operations abroad in Iraq 2003, SSgt. Warren and battery shot direct fire against 100+ enemy insurgents while on move north to Baghdad. His battery also was involved in counter battery fires tasked with destroying enemy artillery before hitting any of the friendlies, which they destroyed every target that fired upon the United States and Allie's. His battalion captured and secured more enemy combatants than any U.S. fighting force.
After his 7-month deployment to Iraq, he immediately received orders to the drill field to become a drill instructor. As a drill instructor, the first set of drill instructors to come home after the war, put much stress on the recruits. He would eventually Other than Honorably discharged from MCRD due to prescription medication deemed to be misused, Vicodin. He told his command that he took over 8 in a 24hr. period which was considered misuse. This would shake his world tremendously.

After discharge, not finding adequate jobs in California, his family in Tempe, Az. Recruited him to move there with the booking housing market and numerous job options available in late 2006. January 1, 2007, he arrived in Arizona with his family after feeling let down and humiliated by the Marine Corps and ready to make a life of his new surroundings. Unfortunately, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder had snuck its way into his heart and mind and slowly began to change his philosophy, dreams, and aspirations. PTSD was not all to blame but leaving the Marines in the manner he did and into a place unfamiliar with no Marines or anyone who could relate caused him to do things he typically would not do during normal operating conditions. He had numerous run ins with the law, lost everything he owned, and his family packing up and moving back to Oceanside, Ca. where his wife is from. He had become an absolute failure and could not figure out why he felt this way. He eventually sought help in Los Angeles 2.5 years after landing in Arizona at the Veteran Affairs Domiciliary in West Los Angeles for treatment of PTSD for 9 months. While in treatment, a social worker there read his file with prescription drugs and the Marine Corps and helped him overturn his initial discharge. He was given an apology from the USMC on how they discharged him under such normal conditions after serving time in war. He graduated the program, won his family back, secured housing in San Diego, and instantly felt renewed and made gaining a social work degree his next mission in life because social workers reminded him of being a platoon sergeant or squad leader, troop welfare. He went to school for the next 6 years gaining a bachelors and finally a master’s in social work from his lifelong dream school, University of Southern California. He was working with the VA during his last four years of school as a social services assistant at the ASPIRE Center and once gaining his MSW, became a social worker at the aspire center until he had to resign six months in to care for his grandmother who became very ill with dementia.