Shawn Alan Harris

Shawn Harris (born November 19, 1970) is an Officer in the United States Marine Corps, and an American mixed martial artist who fought amateur league for a World Extreme Cagefighting organization related sub-group (Rage-Out). He has served three tours in Iraq during the Iraq War, and is a combat veteran. He is a graduate of National University and California State University. He is also a graduate of the Marine Corps Command & Staff College, Amphibious Warfare School, and the Marine Corps Logistics Education Program at Pennsylvania State University. He is currently a Captain of Marines.
Harris was born in Belleville, Illinois at St. Elizabeth Hospital, and grew up in the area between Belleville and Mascoutah, Illinois. He graduated from Belleville Township High School East in 1988, and then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, attending basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), San Diego, California. Upon graduation, he was meritoriously promoted to Private First Class, and was further assigned as a Supply and Logistics Operations Marine. He spent the next 12 years as an Enlisted Marine, and rose to the rank of Gunnery Sergeant (E-7). Along the way, he was meritoriously promoted twice more, to Corporal and Sergeant, and received multiple awards for superior service, including the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
He served as a Drill Instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California from 1997-2000, training enlisted civilian candidates to become United States Marines. In November 1999, he organized and participated in a 700 mile bike ride to benefit the Toys For Tots Foundation, raising over $15,000 in eight days. The ride group had nine riders (including then Staff Sergeant Harris) and three support personnel to follow with supplies and to support medical/logistical needs. The ride started and finished at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California, and traveled through El Centro, California; Yuma, Arizona; back to El Centro, California; then up to Salton Sea, California; then Twenty-Nine Palms, California; on to Palm Springs, California; then down to Camp Pendleton, California (Oceanside, California); through Carlsbad, California; and finally ending back at MCRD, San Diego, California, eight days after they departed. In early 2000, he was awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for performing CPR and saving the life of a passenger on an airplane at San Diego International Airport.
Then Gunnery Sergeant Harris was selected for the Marine Corps Warrant Officer Program, was promoted to Warrant Officer in 2002, and immediately attended The Basic School, Quantico, Virginia. He then had several tours in CONUS and deployed abroad; most notably with 8th Communication Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Multi-National Force West, and 2nd Marine Logistics Group, including coalition forces and United States Joint Forces Command components, and also served as a Company Commander. He began his martial arts training in the Marine Corps under the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) in 2000, and progressed through the belt ranks to 1st Degree Black Belt. In 2005 and 2006, he had four amateur MMA fights under International Sport Combat Federation (ISCF) rules, with a current amateur fight record of 3 wins and 1 loss (3-1); he is a current and active fighter. He was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer-3 in late 2006.
After returning from his third tour in Iraq, and just after reaching 20 years of service, he was transferred to the “Oldest Post in the Marine Corps”, Marine Barracks Washington, D. C., also known as “8th & I”, where he served as a Barracks Officer and Supply Officer. While at Marine Barracks, he was selected for promotion to Captain, and assumed his current rank in February 2009. Shortly thereafter, the Marine Corps reassigned him to the Defense Logistics Agency for duty. Captain Harris is the current manager for the Marine Corps web portal on the Logistics Toolbox website, LogTool.net. Some of his personal military awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon. He lives, serves, and trains in central Pennsylvania. Currently, he is training for an upcoming MMA fight on 6 November 2009, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, at the 170 weight class level. The event is the Pennsylvania Fighting Championship (PFC), and is being sponsored by Blackman MMA of Harrisburg.

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