U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Ryan Gulliksen, a 26-year-old logistics

U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Ryan Gulliksen, a 26-year-old logistics officer with Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and native of Ormond Beach, Fla., stands on top of one of the armored vehicles under his charge as a logistician here, Jan. 12. Gulliksen spends each of his days on deployment in southwest Afghanistan's Helmand province supporting the approximately 1,200 Marines and sailors in his battalion. He's one of the faces of a historic transition in the making; a unique ingredient in a melting pot of servicemembers devoted to preparing the Afghan National Security Forces for assumption of lead security responsibility in Garmsir district. "This is the greatest job in the world," said Gulliksen, a 2003 graduate of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Fla. "I don't look at how many days I have left until I go home; I look at how many days I have left to support my Marines. I'm not just collecting a paycheck... I know I'm making a difference for these guys."