Marine Sergeant Major discharged from recruiting depot arrested and facing NCIS investigation

A senior Marine from the service's West Coast recruiting depot is in custody and being investigated by law enforcement after being fired Thursday for “loss of trust and confidence.”

Sergeant Major Gerardo Trevino, the ranking noncommissioned officer of the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, was relieved of his duties last week by Col. Peter Rummler, commander of the depot's Recruit Training Regiment, the Marine Corps said in a statement to Military.com over the weekend.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) confirmed on Monday that Trevino is in custody and said the case is currently under investigation. The battalion that Trevino led is responsible for training recruits through basic training to become Marines.

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“NCIS is conducting an investigation and no further details will be released at this time,” Captain Austin Gallegos, a spokesman for the recruiting depot, told Military.com after confirming that Trevino had been replaced last week.

Gallegos said Trevino was arrested on Sept. 11, the day before his release, and no charges had been filed as of Monday.

While Gallegos would not reveal details about what the Navy's law enforcement agency is investigating in connection with Trevino, NCIS is primarily responsible for solving crimes, as well as preventing terrorism and protecting Navy and Marine Corps secrets, according to its website.

Trevino's firing follows seven known removals or transfers of senior leaders in charge of naval training in the past 14 months. Last year, a senior petty officer at Quantico Basic School was fired after she struck two pedestrians in an alleged drunken driving case.

Last July, three top leaders at the Marine Corps' East Coast Recruit Depot on Parris Island were relieved of their posts. Three leaders at the School of Infantry-West aboard Camp Pendleton in California, who were responsible for training Marines after basic training camp, were also terminated for “loss of trust and confidence.”

“Loss of trust” is a catch-all term that services use to explain, often with few details, the dismissal of a leader.

Trevino joined the Marine Corps in 2004, meaning he was likely just months away from the 20-year mark at which most senior enlisted soldiers retire. According to his official biography, which was later apparently deleted from the Marine Corps' official website, he deployed three times, including to Afghanistan and Iraq. In June 2023, he was promoted to sergeant major and transferred to the battalion from which he was discharged.

As a staff sergeant, Trevino was awarded the Dan. [Daly] Award for the greatest inspiration[al] Drill Instructor of the India Company and was also promoted to Gunnery Sergeant [in] March 2016,” says his biography.

Military.com attempted unsuccessfully to reach Trevino through publicly listed contacts and via email.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information from the Marine Corps.

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