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Command Biographies

Cherry Point Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major Jay D. Heitink

Sergeant Major Jay D. Heitink is a native of Iowa. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 1997 and attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, California. He earned military occupational specialties in ground communication as a field wireman, construction wireman, and telephone chief. Additional military occupational specialties include canvassing recruiter and martial arts instructor.

Sergeant Major Heitink has served as a wireman, wire chief, and communications chief in Marine Barracks/Ground Defense Security Force Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Marine Wing Communication Squadron 38, 3rd Marine Regiment, Recruiting Station Harrisburg; Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division; 9th Communication Battalion, and 6th Marine Regiment; and as a Unit Senior Enlisted Leader in Marine Corps Installations-East, 2nd Intelligence Battalion, and II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group. As a Sergeant Major, he has served as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader at Recruiting Station Milwaukee, Marine Wing Support Squadron 272, and currently serves as the Command Senior Enlisted Leader for Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point.

Sergeant Major Heitink has deployed in support of combat operations to Operation Iraqi Freedom (Kuwait/Iraq) in 2003 and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) in 2011 and 2012. He has also deployed as an individual augment to Mongolia in 2005 and Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2006.

Sergeant Major Heitink earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication from Southern New Hampshire University in 2021 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Iowa in 2023. His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal (second award), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (fifth award), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (fourth award).

Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point