Neller's assignments in the operating forces include: Rifle and Weapons Platoon Commander and Company Commander with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division; Commanding Officer, Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines; Commanding Officer, 3rd Light Armored Infantry Battalion (LAI) and Commanding Officer, 6th Marine Regiment from 10 July 1998 to 6 July 2000.[6] While with 3rd LAI he participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. As the Commanding Officer, Marine Corps Security Force Company, Panama, he participated in Operations Just Cause and Promote Liberty. Additionally, he served as Executive Officer, 7th Marine Regiment, G-3, II Marine Expeditionary Force and G-3, 2nd Marine Division.[5]
Other assignments include recruit series officer, aide-de-camp and as Director of Special Training Division MCRD San Diego, California. Neller served as Student Company Executive Officer and Tactics Instructor at The Basic School, Quantico, Virginia, and in Special Projects Directorate Headquarters Marine Corps. Additionally, he served as a Staff Officer in the Policy Division of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium.[5]
General officer
Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford relinquishes command to Gen. Neller (right), 2015
As a general officer, Neller has served as the Assistant Division Commander of the 2nd Marine Division and the Director, Operations Division, Plans, Policies and Operations. He was also the Deputy Commanding General (Operations), 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) during an especially dangerous time of the Iraq War from 2005 to 2007,[7] and as the Assistant Division Commander for 1st Marine Division. Neller commanded 3rd Marine Division and served as President, Marine Corps University. From January 2011 to July 2012, he served as Director for Operations, J3, The Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.[5]
Neller succeeded General Joseph Dunford as the 37th Commandant of the Marine Corps on September 24, 2015. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who worked with Neller when he had been Director of Operations at the Joint Staff, said that Neller "is a warrior. He is a leader. He is a statesman." Him being chosen over other candidates was considered to be due to his experience of working with the Navy while being the head of Marine Forces Command, as the Marine Corps was considering a new doctrine that is based on a closer partnership with the Navy.[10]
In June 2017, General Neller told Congress that the Marine Corps is "not currently organized, trained and equipped to face a peer adversary in the year 2025."[11]
Richard F. Natonski is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general whose last assignment was as the Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command. He assumed the post in August 2008, having previously served as the United States Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations from 2006. He retired at Marine Barracks 8th & I on 8 September 2010.
Charles Elliott Wilhelm is a decorated retired United States Marine Corps General who served two combat tours of duty in Vietnam. He later served as Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division; as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; and as the Commander, U.S. Southern Command (1997–2000). General Wilhelm retired from the Marine Corps in 2000, after 37 years of service.
Jan C. Huly is a former United States Marine Corps officer who retired on 7 November 2006 after almost 37 years of service. His last role was as Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations. Huly currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marines' Memorial Association located in San Francisco, CA.
Joseph V. Medina is a retired U.S. Marine Brigadier General whose career has taken him from an initial posting leading a rifle platoon to head of the contingency plans branch overseeing NATO's Kosovo operation. In November 2003, Medina took command of Expeditionary Strike Group Three. This event marked the first time in history that a United States Marine Corps officer took command of a Naval flotilla. In April 2007, BGen Medina took command of the 3rd Marine Division.
The Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command (COMMARFORCOM), headquartered at the Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia, commands service retained-operating forces; executes force sourcing and synchronization to affect force generation actions in the provisioning of joint capable Marine Corps forces, and directs deployment planning and execution of service retained-operating forces in support of Combatant Commander (CCDR) and service requirements; serves as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic and commands embarked Marine Corps forces; coordinates Marine Corps-Navy integration of operational initiatives and advises CDR U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFF) on support to Marine Corps forces assigned to naval ships, bases, and installations; conducts Service directed operational tasks as required. COMMARFORCOM is also the Commander, Marine Corps Forces Northern Command (MARFORNORTH), the Marine service component command of U.S. Northern Command.
John M. Paxton Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 33rd Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps. He previously served as the Commanding General of United States Marine Corps Forces Command; Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic; Commander, United States Marine Corps Forces, Europe, as well as II Marine Expeditionary Force. Paxton retired on August 4, 2016, after 42 years of service.
The Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPAC) is the largest maritime landing force in the world. Its units are spread across the Pacific Ocean and reports to the United States Pacific Command. It is headquartered at MCB Camp H. M. Smith, HI and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expeditionary Strike Force and Marine Air-Ground Task Force components that follow under the 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleet and the Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC). The Commanding General of Marine Corps Forces, Pacific is dual-posted as the Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. FMFPAC is under operational control of the Commander, United States Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), when deployed.
The Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (FMFLANT) is an American maritime landing force that is spread across the Atlantic Ocean. It is headquartered at Naval Station Norfolk and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expeditionary Strike Force and Marine Air-Ground Task Force components that follow under the 2nd, 4th, and 6th Fleet and the Marine Forces Command (MarForCom). The Commanding General of Marine Forces Command is dual-posted as the Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic. FMFLANT is under operational control of the Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet Forces Command, when deployed.
Michael Phillip "Rifle" DeLong was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who served as deputy commander, United States Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. From 2000 until his retirement in 2003, DeLong was second-in-command to General Tommy Franks, who, as commander of United States Central Command, was in charge of the war on terror, including Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills is a retired United States Marine Corps officer, who served as commander of the Marine Forces Reserve from 2013 to 2015 and Marine Forces North, headquartered at the Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans. Previously he was deputy commandant for combat development and integration and commanding general, Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Virginia, and, prior to that assignment, was commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward)/Regional Command Southwest in Afghanistan.
Lawrence Fontaine Snowden was a lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps. In 1995, he founded the annual Reunion of Honor, a program honoring those who lost their lives on both sides of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
David Hilberry Berger is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 38th commandant of the Marine Corps from 2019 to 2023.
Thomas David "Tom" Waldhauser is a retired United States Marine Corps general who was the Commander of United States Africa Command. He previously served as Director for Joint Force Development, J7 on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force, and Commanding General, United States Marine Forces Central Command. Waldhauser is an alumnus of Bemidji State University.
Lawrence D. Nicholson is a retired United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General. He attended Augusta Military Academy in Ft. Defiance, VA. He served as Commanding General III Marine Expeditionary Force from 2015 to 2018, having previously commanded the 1st Marine Division from 2012 to 2015.
Eric M. Smith is a United States Marine Corps four-star general who has served as the 39th commandant of the Marine Corps since 22 September 2023. He served as acting commandant of the Marine Corps between 10 July 2023 and 22 September 2023 while awaiting Senate confirmation. Before nomination to the position he served as the 36th assistant commandant of the Marine Corps and before that as the deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, being succeeded by Karsten Heckl.
Brian D. Beaudreault is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who most recently served as commander of II Marine Expeditionary Force. He previously served as the Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations and Commanding General, 2nd Marine Division.
George William Smith Jr. is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps who last served as commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force from September 2021 to August 2023. He most recently served as the Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations until August 2021. He previously served as Senior Military Assistant to the United States Secretary of Defense, a position for which he was nominated by James Mattis in September 2018. He was commissioned in 1985 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, through a Naval ROTC program. He is the son of George W. Smith, who was a major general in the Marine Corps.
Paul W. Brier is a retired United States Marine Corps major general. A combat veteran of the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan wars, he retired on 31 December 2016, completing 36 years of military service. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. A 2012 CAPSTONE Fellow at the National Defense University, he is a graduate of the Defense Resources Management Institute, Naval Postgraduate School; Air War College; Joint Forces Staff College; and Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
James F. Glynn is a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general who has served as the commander of United States Marine Corps Forces, Pacific since September 12, 2024. He most recently served as the deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs of the Marine Corps from 2022 to 2024. He commanded United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command from June 2020 to May 2022.
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