Sergeant Major Cody T. Palfreyman was born on June 10, 1983 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from Granger High School, in West Valley City, Utah in the summer of 2001. He then attended Salt Lake Community College from 2002 to 2003, in Taylorsville, Utah. He enlisted in the Marine Corps and attended recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego, August 8, 2004. Upon graduating recruit training in November of 2004, he was meritoriously promoted to Private First Class for holding the billet 3rd squad leader.
In December 2004 Private First Class Palfreyman attended Marine Combat Training in Camp Pendleton, California. Upon Completion of Marine Combat Training, he was transferred to Camp Lejeune, NC where he attended the Basic Combat Engineer School and earned the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of 1371 Combat Engineer. Upon completion of his MOS school, in March 2004, he was meritoriously promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal for being a distinguished graduate.
Lance Corporal Palfreyman arrived at 1st Force Service Support Group, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, Camp Pendleton, CA. During his time with the unit he served billets of Rifleman, Fire Team Leader, Squad Leader and deployed three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was promoted to the ranks of Corporal and Sergeant during this tour of duty.
In May of 2009, Sergeant Palfreyman was transferred to Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 Iwakuni, Japan. During his time he served as the Platoon Guide and Platoon Sergeant and deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as an Individual Augment with 9th Engineer Support Battalion. Additionally, Sergeant Palfreyman attended the Combat Engineer Non-Commissioned Officer Course, Explosive Ordnance Reduction Course and Sergeant's Course.
Sergeant Palfreyman attended the Basic Recruiter Course (BRC) at MCRD, San Diego, California in September of 2012. Upon graduation he was assigned to Recruiting Station (RS) Salt Lake City, Utah, Recruiting Sub-Station (RSS) Ogden in Roy, Utah where he served as a Canvassing Recruiter. In January of 2014 Sergeant Palfreyman was promoted to Staff Sergeant and was reassigned to RSS West, where he served as the Staff Non-commissioned Officer in Charge until December 2015.
Staff Sergeant Palfreyman was transferred to Combat Logistic Battalion 3, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii in December of 2015. During this tour he has conducted numerous training exercises throughout the MARFORPAC AO. He is currently serving as a Combat Engineer Platoon Sergeant. He was promoted to Gunnery Sergeant on December 1st 2017.
In December 2018, Gunnery Sergeant Palfreyman was transferred to 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, Camp Pendleton, California. During his time with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion he served as the Platoon Sergeant for Bravo 4 and Alpha 4. He also served as the Company First Sergeant for Charlie and Alpha Company. Gunnery Sergeant Palfreyman conducted numerous training exercises and deployed with V1/5 in support of the 31st MEU. Gunnery Sergeant Palfreyman was promoted to First Sergeant on October 1st 2021 and has just completed a successful tour as the I-I First Sergeant with CLB-453.
His personal awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two gold stars and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, with two gold stars. Sergeant Major Palfreyman was the recipient of the 2017 Marine Corps Engineer Awards, Combat Engineer SNCO of the Year.