Our twenty-first recipient, Colonel (Ret) Christopher A. Tavuchis, completed the AMP at Harvard Business School in October 2017.  Chris retired from Active Duty after 31 years of faithful and dedicated service on March 1, 2022, and assumed a position at the Marines’ Memorial Association & Foundation.  Chris’s last served assignment on Active Duty was the Commanding Officer, Marine Artillery Detachment, Fort Sill, OK.  He assumed that billet after serving as the Executive Assistant to the Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs (M&RA), Headquarters Marine Corps in Quantico, VA.  He served with distinction at every level of artillery command including Sierra Battery, 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, as a Captain; 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, as a Lieutenant Colonel; and as the Commanding Officer of the 11th Marine Regiment (The Cannon Cockers,) as a Colonel.  Commissioned in 1991, he served as a Forward Observer, Guns Platoon Leader, and Battery Executive Officer in 1st Battalion, 10th Marines.  After serving with 1st Battalion, 10th Marines, Marine Corps Security Forces, Naval Air Station, North Island, CA; the 31st MEU, Okinawa, Japan; Logistics Officer, Firing Battery Commander, and Operations Officer for 5th Battalion, 11th Marines; Requirements Officer, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; Battalion Executive Officer, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines; Fires and Effects Officer, 5th Marine Regiment in OIF; Operations and Executive Officer, 11th Marine Regiment; Deputy Division Chief, Arabian Peninsula Division, Joint Staff, J-5, Pol/Mil Directorate; Ground Colonels’ Monitor, Manpower Management  Division, M&RA; Branch Head, Analysis Branch, Programs and Evaluation Division, Programs and Resources Dept, HQMC.  Chris is a graduate of:  The Basic School; The U.S. Army Field Artillery Officers Basic Course; Amphibious Warfare School; the USMC Command and Staff College (Non-Resident Program); and, the National War College, earning a MS in National Security Affairs.  Previously, he earned a BA in International Relations from the University of Manitoba and subsequently earned an MA in Ground Warfare, and an MBA in Program and Acquisition Management from American Military University.

Chris and his wife, Shelagh, have two children.