Command Sergeant Major Leo Barrington Jr. was born in Monticello, Florida on June 4, 1957. He graduated from Jefferson County High School in June 1976 and enlisted in the United States Army in Jacksonville, Florida on March 3, 1977 as a material supply clerk. He received Basic and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Lee, Virginia. He was selected for recruiting duty in 1988. He was initially assigned to the 6TH Recruiting Brigade, Southern California Battalion, Fullerton Recruiting Station as a field recruiter and then as an on-production station commander for the Corona Recruiting Station. He also served as a limited-production station commander for the Riverside Recruiting Station. He then went on to become a recruiter trainer and company first sergeant for the Orange County Recruiting Company from July 1995 to May 1996.