Staff Sgt. Ebony Tatum gives 2nd Lt. Christina Valentine

Staff Sgt. Ebony Tatum gives 2nd Lt. Christina Valentine her first salute at Marine Corps Officer Candidates School on Marine Corps Base Quantico, Viriginia, August 10, 2019. Tatum, a native of Fort Washington, Maryland, previously served as a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina where she trained Valentine to become a United States Marine in 2016. Valentine, a native of Dallas, Texas, took advantage of the Marine Corps' Enlisted Commissioning Program, which allows enlisted Marines who have already completed their bachelor's degree to become Marine Corps Officers. The two Marines reunited at Officer Candidates School, where Valentine was an officer candidate and Tatum was her sergeant instructor. During the ten weeks of Officer Candidates Course, officer candidates are evaluated daily by their sergeant instructors for their performance and how well they are developing leadership, moral, mental, and physical qualities required for commissioning as a Marine Corps Officer.