III Marine Expeditionary Force is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) to amphibious assault and high-intensity combat.
Michael R. Lehnert is a retired major general of the United States Marine Corps. He supervised the construction and served as the first commandant of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp.
Paul K. Van Riper is a retired United States Marine lieutenant general. Van Riper was a combat veteran—twice receiving the Silver Star Medal for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War. At the time of his retirement, Van Riper was serving as the Commanding General, 2nd Marine Division and Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Quantico, Virginia. Since his retirement, Van Riper has served on several advisory boards and panels. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation.
The II Marine Expeditionary Force is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a period of 60 days. The II Marine Expeditionary Force is commanded by a lieutenant general, who serves under U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, providing Marine fighting formations and units to European Command, Central Command and Southern Command. The current Commanding General is Lieutenant General David A. Ottignon. The Deputy Commanding General is Brigadier General Andrew T. Priddy and the Senior Enlisted Leader is Sergeant Major David A. Wilson.
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.
Cornell A. Wilson Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps major general, who served as Director, Reserve Affairs Division, Manpower & Reserve Affairs, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, in Quantico, Virginia.
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.
Ray L. Smith is a highly decorated retired United States Marine Corps major general. Smith was a combat veteran — receiving the Navy Cross for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War, as well as two Silver Stars, the Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. Smith retired from the Marine Corps in 1999 after almost 34 years of service. In 2003, after nearly four years of retirement, Smith went to Iraq with the 1st Marine Division; and penned an eyewitness account of the march from Kuwait to Baghdad — The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division.
Richard Irving "Butch" Neal was a United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps (ACMC) from 1996 to 1998.
Daniel P. Bolger is an American author, historian, and retired a lieutenant general of the United States Army. He held a special faculty appointment in the Department of History at North Carolina State University, where he taught military history until his retirement in 2023.
Robert B. Johnston was a United States Marine Corps lieutenant general whose last duty assignment was as Commander, Marine Forces Atlantic, Marine Forces Europe and II Marine Expeditionary Force. During the Gulf War, he served as the CENTCOM Chief-of-Staff. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1995 after over 34 years of service.
The 2nd Maintenance Battalion is a battalion of the United States Marine Corps that provides intermediate-level maintenance for the II Marine Expeditionary Force's tactical ordnance, engineer, motor transport, communications electronics and general support ground equipment. They are based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and fall under the command of 2nd Marine Logistics Group.
Charles Mark Gurganus is a retired U.S. Marine major general who commanded Regional Command Southwest and I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) in Afghanistan and was relieved because he and General Gregg A. Sturdevant oversaw "the worst loss of U.S. airpower in a single incident since the Vietnam War" during the September 2012 raid on Camp Bastion. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James F. Amos, requested that General Sturdevant and General Gurganus retire in the aftermath of the incident and its investigation, commenting that it was the "...hardest decision I have had to make as commandant of the Marine Corps," and that he had served with both men in combat, calling them "...extraordinary Marine officers." Prior to that, Gurganus was commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, California.
Edwin Bliss Wheeler was a highly decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps with the rank of major general. He served with famous Marine Raiders during World War II and earned the Silver Star for gallantry in action. Wheeler served two tours of duty in Vietnam, as commanding officer of 3rd Marine Regiment in 1964–1965 and later as commanding general of 1st Marine Division in 1969–1970.
Eric M. Smith is a United States Marine Corps 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.
Charles Fred Widdecke was a highly decorated officer of the United States Marine Corps who reached the rank of major general. Widdecke received the Navy Cross, the United States military's second-highest decoration awarded for valor in combat, for his actions during the Recapture of Guam in July 1944. He later commanded the 1st Marine Division at the end of Vietnam War.
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.
Stephen Goodwin Olmstead was a highly decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with a rank of Lieutenant General. His last assignment was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Policy and Enforcement and the Director of the Department of Defense Task Force on Drug Enforcement.
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.
Richard T. Tryon is a retired U.S. Marine lieutenant general. He previously served as commander of United States Marine Corps Forces Command, 2nd Marine Division and the 24th MEU (SOC).
