Marine Sergeant Major released from West Coast boot camp now in prison

The former commander of the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California, is currently in custody pending an ongoing investigation, Marine Corps and Navy Task & Purpose officials said Monday.

Sergeant Major Gerardo Trevino was relieved of duty Sept. 12 by Col. Peter Rummler, commander of the Recruit Training Regiment, due to a “loss of confidence,” said Capt. Austin Gallegos, a spokesman for the recruit depot.

“The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is conducting an investigation and no further details will be released at this time,” Gallegos told Task & Purpose.

Trevino has been taken into custody, said Darwin Lam, a spokesman for NCIS, who also confirmed that the agency is conducting a “thorough investigation” into Trevino.

Lam did not provide any information about what investigators are investigating or why Trevino is currently being held in custody.

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“Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not make any further comment while the investigation is ongoing,” Lam said.

There was no immediate information on the exact reason Trevino was dismissed from service or why he is being investigated. The military often uses the term “loss of confidence” to explain why commanders and senior noncommissioned officers are dismissed for a variety of alleged personal and professional misconduct.

A native of McAllen, Texas, Trevino graduated from Marine Corps Recruit San Diego in December 2004 and subsequently served as a disbursement technician, according to his official biography, which has been removed from the Marine Corps Recruit San Diego website.

In 2006, Trevino was named Noncommissioned Officer of the Year and was ordered to complete airborne training. After joining the 1st Marine Logistics Group, he deployed to Rawah, Iraq in 2008 and Marjah, Afghanistan in 2010.

Trevino later received orders to attend Drill Instructor School and served with 3rd Battalion, India Company as a Marine Corps drill instructor, senior drill instructor, and water survival instructor. He then served as an inspector on the Marine Corps Administrative Analysis Team at Headquarters Marine Corps, Manpower and Reserve Affairs in Quantico, Virginia.

In 2019, he was promoted to First Sergeant and assigned to Marine Barracks Washington, DC.

Trevino was promoted to sergeant major last year when he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal in lieu of second award, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal in lieu of fourth award, and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

He is one of several senior noncommissioned officers recently discharged, including Army Sgt. Maj. Jaime I. Rubio, Command Sgt. Maj. Harold “Ed” Jarrell, Command Sgt. Major Veronica E. Knapp and Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew Carlson.

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