United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Cristian Bestul hails from San Bernadino, California, and he enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 21st, 2014, as a Combat Cameraman. Staff Sergeant Bestul has served in the Pentagon, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, and the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California. His operational deployments include Marine Rotational Force Darwin 24.3 in Australia, Timor Leste Este, HMAS Canberra, and Operation Render Safe – Nauru. The Operation Render Safe Nauru mission had U.S. Marines and international partners, disposing of 500 pounds of unexploded, World War II ordnance, creating a safer environment for the islanders of Nauru.
As a combat cameraman, Staff Sergeant Bestul has interviewed and photographed key leaders around the world to include Astronaut Charles Bolden and the late President George H.W. Bush funeral services. In addition to being a combat cameraman, he has been a Marine Corps Martial Arts Instructor and a Combat Marksmanship coach. Today, Staff Sergeant Bestul is enrolled in the prestigious Syracuse University Military Visual Journalism Program at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
