Marine Aviation

Lieutenant General Robert E. Schmidle, Jr., USMC, serves as the Deputy Commandant for Aviation. As the Deputy Commandant for Aviation, he sets policy and facilitates the manning, training and equipping of Marine Aviation units.

His command assignments include: Commanding General of First Marine Aircraft Wing, Commanding Officer of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (Experimental), and Commanding Officer of Marine Fighter/Attack Squadrons 251 and 115.

Previous operational assignments include multiple tours flying the F-4 and F/A-18 aircraft as well as serving as the operations officer and air officer of an Infantry Battalion, First Battalion 9th Marines.

Additionally, Lieutenant General Schmidle has served in the following key staff assignments: Deputy Commander for U.S. Cyber Command, Assistant Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Programs and Resources (Programs), Deputy Chief of Staff for Integrated Product Team 1 for the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and USMC lead for the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, Deputy Director for Resources and Acquisition in the Joint Staff J-8, Director
of the USMC Expeditionary Force Development Center and the Military Secretary for the 32nd
and 33rd Commandants of the Marine Corps.

Lieutenant General Schmidle is a native of Newtown, Connecticut and graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History. He also holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from American University and is currently working on his doctorate at Georgetown University He is a distinguished graduate and prior faculty member of the Marine Corps
Command and Staff College as well as a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps War College. Additionally, he has been published on a range of topics from military history to social psychology and philosophy.