The son of a career Marine jet pilot and veteran of WWII, Korean, and Vietnam Wars, BGen George R. Brier, he was born on September 21, 1959, at Fort Ord, California. An Eagle Scout, he graduated from St. Stephen's School Alexandria, Virginia, and attended the Virginia Military Institute on the four-year Navy ROTC Scholarship (Marine Option) program, graduating in 1981 with a BS in Civil Engineering.
In 1996, Brier was assigned as the Operations Officer and Executive Officer, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marines, and deployed the battalion to northern Norway for NATO Exercises Strong Resolve 98.
Upon promotion to lieutenant colonel in 1998, he transferred to the II MEF Augmentation Command Element and served as II Marine Expeditionary Force Current Operations Fires Officer for a second winter deployment to Norway for NATO Exercise Battle Griffin 99.
In 2002, he transferred to the U.S. Joint Forces Command for duty as Chief, Civil Affairs Branch, Joint Warfighting Center.
Promoted to colonel in 2003, he served at the Pentagon as a Marine Corps Service Planner, Joint Staff Branch, where he assisted the Commandant of the Marine Corps in preparing for meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In July 2004, he graduated from the International Joint Operations Planning Course at HMS Dryad (Southwick Park, England).
In February 2005, Brier was selected to build and command the 6th Civil Affairs Group (6th CAG), a provisional unit commissioned for service in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 6th CAG provided civil affairs support for the 2d Marine Division and Multi-National Force West’s counterinsurgency operations in al-Anbar province during Operations Sayeed II, Steel Curtain, Liberity Express and Patriot Shield II and for two major national elections; the 15 Nov 2005 National Constitutional Referendum and the 15 December 2006 Parliament Elections.[3][4][5]
In 2008, he deployed to Afghanistan and served as Officer-in-Charge, US Marine Forces Central Command (MARCENT) Coordination Element- Afghanistan; and MARCENT Liaison Officer to CJTF-101, Combined Security Assistance Force-Afghanistan, and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. He held this position until selected by the Commandant of the Marine Corps to redeploy to Guam in July 2008 to establish a permanent Marine Liaison Office to coordinate the move of Marine personnel and facilities from Okinawa to the island required by the Defense Policy Review Initiative (DPRI (2005)), a bilateral force-posture realignment program between the U.S. and Japanese governments. He assisted the Governor of Guam and his government in developing the island’s civil infrastructure plans to support a thirty-percent increase in population caused by the planned relocation about 8,000 Marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam by 2014, estimated to cost $15 billion.
Sept 9, 2010. Monrovia, Liberia. United States Marine Brig. Gen. Paul W. Brier, Commander, U.S. Marine Forces Africa, shakes hand with a recently commissioned officer in the Armed Forces of Liberia. Brier visited Monrovia to gauge the progress of Operation ONWARD LIBERTY, a U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Defense initiative designed to continue the United States' support to the government of Liberia and the ongoing reform of its defense sector.
In 2016, he returned from his final tour in Afghanistan where he had served as the Deputy Commander for Civil Outreach and Director of the Advise and Assist Directorate for the 41-nation NATO-led Resolute Support Mission (Operation Freedom’s Sentinel).[25]
Post military service
He serves as the Assistant Circuit Executive for Space and Facilities for the U.S. Courts of the Fourth Circuit and volunteers as a Navy 44 Offshore Skipper/coach/mentor for the U.S. Naval Academy's Command and Seamanship (Offshore Sail Training) Squadron and as a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliarist.[26][27]
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↑ Acosta, Jeffrey; Decker, Ray; Saunders, Greer (2007). "Field History: A History of the 6th Civil Affairs Group"(PDF). Fortitudine. Vol.32, no.4. United States Marine Corps History Division, Marine Corps University. p.11. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
↑ Davey, Cpl. Lydia M. (September 10, 2009). "MARFOREUR, MARFORAF Welcome New Commander". Press Release. Marine Corps Forces Europe & Africa, United States Marine Corps. Retrieved 2020-05-15.
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