Our sixth recipient, Lieutenant General Eric E. Austin, completed the AMP at Harvard Business School in October 2013. Eric is a Marine aviator who is currently serving as the Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration. Eric previously served as the Commanding General of 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1991, earned his wings as a naval aviator in 1994, and was selected to fly the AV-8B Harrier. He has extensive operational and tactical experience in the AV-8B, including deployment aboard amphibious shipping as part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit and combat experience from multiple deployments to Kuwait and Iraq. He commanded Marine Attack Squadron 211 from May 2007 to November 2008, commanded Marine Aircraft Group 14 from June 2014 to June 2016, and served as the Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command from June 2017 to June 2018 and the Deputy Director, Joint Training assigned to the Joint Staff, J-7 from June 2018 to June 2020. Other staff assignments include Director, Capabilities Development Directorate; Combat Development & Integration; Military Secretary to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing; Pacific Command Action Officer, Operations Directorate for the Joint Staff; Executive Officer, Marine Aircraft Group 13; Executive Officer, Marine Attack Squadron 513; Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1; and various squadron billets in operations, aviation maintenance, aviation safety, and pilot training. He is a school-trained Aviation Safety Officer, a qualified Landing Signals Officer, and a Weapons and Tactics Instructor. Eric graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering in 1991, was a distinguished graduate of The Basic School in 1992 and completed flight school in 1994. He was awarded a Masters of National Security Strategy from the National War College in 2010 and graduated from the Marine Corps University Senior Planner’s course in 2012.
Eric and his wife, Laura, have two children.