MARINE CORPS BASE TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- After having led his men of the “Magnificent Seventh” for two years, Col. Craig A. Tucker took his final bow as 7th Marine Regiment commanding officer in front of his Marines, Sailors, family, friends and distinguished guests.Tucker, a Kittery, Maine, native, transferred the regimental colors to Col. Blake Crowe during a change-of-command ceremony held on the seventh day of the seventh month in a ceremony which ended shortly after 7 p.m. on the Commanding General’s Parade Field. Present during the ceremony was Lt. Gen. James F. Amos, commanding general, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Jones, commanding general, Training and Education Command and Maj. Gen. Richard F. Natonski who took the opportunity to speak during theceremony. “I did not know who Craig Tucker was when I joined the division last August,” said Natonski. “However I did know of his reputation. When I arrived and took over the division in Iraq, Craig Tucker did nothing but enhance that reputation that he had in this Marine Corps.” During his 13-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Tucker built a team comprised of soldiers, airmen, Sailors, Marines and Iraqi Security Forces which he guided under his direct leadership. “You proved what a combat leader you are as you led your force with calmness and courage under fire through some of the toughest fighting the Marine Corps has seen since the Korean War,” said Natonski. While deployed, Tucker moved around the area of operations to prepare for the Iraqi elections in January. Natonski reminisced about a small town in Iraq which on election day at 9:30 a.m. only drew one family to the polling center to vote. “One family had shown up and we said, ‘Oh my god what kind of election are we going to have,” asked Natonski. “That family voted and stepped outside the election polling center and waived their hands, and of out of a scene of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ thousands of Iraqi’s came over the hill and came down to vote.” After the elections, Tucker immediately shifted focus to take on the insurgency with his team. “The Marines and Sailors before you are just a representative group of the thousands of Marines, corpsman and Iraqi’s that Craig commanded during his 13 months,” said Natonski. “But what he won’t tell you was that he was wounded in action by an [improvised explosive device] and never left the fight with his regiment. Craig, thank you for everything you have done for this division, for this regiment, for our corps and our country.” Natonski’s final remark was intended for Crowe.“Blake I just have one set of directions for you...prepare to march. Oorah! Tucker stood in front of his guests and glanced behind him to the Marines and Sailors. “You see about half of them right now but arranged in those companies and those battalions are Marines whose courage and sacrificed are pretty equal to that of their forefathers,” said Tucker. “The deeds of the sons have exceeded those of the fathers.” Sixty percent of the regiment is comprised of junior Marines who recently reported to the regiment, mostly 18 and 19-year-olds. They stand in ranks of fire teams or squads commanded by an old breed of lance corporals and corporals who are in the process preparing for their third or fourth deployment. “If you take the moment to consider that in that old breed of 22 or 23 year old Marines and Sailors standing out there — there is more combat experience there than the sum of combat experience of every Marine who joined the Marines Corps between 1974 and 1996,” said Tucker. “They are the leading edge that in the years to come they’re going to change the Marine Corps in ways we cannot fathom right now. They are challenged to lead because they’re smart and they’re tough and they’re not afraid to ask questions.” Tucker will remain aboard the Combat Center and will take the reigns of Tactical Training Exercise Control Group.“These last two years of my life had been the most honored years of my life,” said Tucker. “I was carried on the shoulders of giants and walked into a company of heroes.Colonel W. Blake Crowe BiographyColonel Crowe was commissioned a second lieutenant on Aug. 14, 1981 and was designated an infantry officer. While a lieutenant he served as a rifle platoon commander, 81mm mortar platoon commander and assistant operations officer with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, Camp Lejuene, N.C. He served as a platoon commander with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, Okinawa, Japan and as a legal officer, Marine Security Guard Battalion, Quantico, VA. As a captain he served two years as Headquarters Commandant, Headquarters and Service Company, Marine Security Guard Battalion. During May 1989 he transferred to the 1st Marine Division, where he served as operations officer, assistant operations officer and company commander with 3/9. Following Desert Shield/Storm, he was reassigned to I MEF where he served as a platoon commander and executive officer, 1st Force Reconnaissance Company. As a major he served as combating Terrorism Officer and Joint Training Officer, J-3, USCINCPAC. Following his joint tour he was assigned to Twentynine Palms where he assumed command of 3/4. On May 30, 2002, Crowe relinquished command of 3/4 and reported to RAND Corporation as a CMC Fellow. Prior to his current assignment, Crowe was the AC/S G3, Training and Education Command. Col. Crowe graduated from Pfeiffer College, N.C. in 1980. His formal military education includes the Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College and CMC Fellowship RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Ca. Col. Crowe is married to Lynn P. Crowe. They have two children, Caitlin, 17, and Amanda, 16.