Colo. Marine appears in the Corps’ latest recruitment advertisement
COLORADO SPRINGS» A local Marine got a taste of Hollywood in the Corps’ newest recruitment advertisement that debuted during the Super Bowl.
Cpl. Karissa Tanguay-jones, or Tangy as she is known to her friends, is a crew chief aboard a MV-22 Osprey. She can be seen racking back a .50-caliber heavy machine gun and looking out the back of her aircraft in the Marine’s newest ad.
“I love being a crew chief,” Tangy said in a military press release. “Flying is an adrenaline rush. Looking down on the world is an amazing sight.”
Tanguay-jones’ father lives in Colorado Springs, where she spent much of her youth. She joined the Marine Corps after a semester at the Community College of Denver.
Her short-lived foray into college life left her unfulfilled. So, she turned to the military.
“After talking to the Marine recruiters, I knew where I belonged,” Tangy said. “The confidence, pride and discipline the Marines would help give me is exactly what I needed in my life.”
Tangy took to the disciplined life immediately, graduating top of her class from flight school. She is also the only female crew chief in her squadron stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
“Females can do just about anything in the Marine Corps,” she said.
When the Corps started looking for Marines to spotlight in their February ad, Tangy’s command jumped at the chance to showcase their squared-away noncommissioned officer.
“My gunny (gunnery sergeant) put me on the audition,” she laughed. “When you join the Marine Corps, you don’t expect to be on TV.”
When asked why she thought she was picked Tangy responded with a bit of Marine confidence, “Because I actually knew what I was doing.”