POULSBO — Marine Lt. Marcus Ashby is returning home from a 39-week deployment with Special Operations Task Force 81, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

He is one of more than 200 Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen who deployed with Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion.During his deployment, he served as the battle captain and current operations officer. SOTF-81 focused its efforts on stabilizing rural areas and population centers of Western Afghanistan and engaging the insurgency in order to develop a competent, legitimate government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Ashby is the son of Eulanda and Winston Ashby of Poulsbo. While growing up in Poulsbo, he was a paperboy for the Herald, an altar server at Saint Olaf, and a volunteer at Viking Fest for several years.

Ashby graduated from North Kitsap High School in 2002, graduated from Marine Corps Recruit Training as an Honorman, became a Citadel cadet in 2003 and deployed to Norway and Iraq in 2005. He graduated with a B.S. in business administration in 2009 and accepted a commission as a Marine officer.