Save the Date! Semper Fidelis Award Dinner to be held March 29, 2025

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LtGen Wallace C. Gregson Jr., USMC, (Ret)

Lieutenant General Wallace “Chip” Gregson (USMC, Ret.) most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs 2009 – 2011.  Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer for the United States Olympic Committee 2005-2006, then an independent consultant before entering Government in 2009.

Retiring from the Marine Corps in 2005, he last served as the Commander, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific; Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; and Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Bases, Pacific, headquartered at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii.

General Gregson is a 1968 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

After The Basic School, he served with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division in the Republic of Vietnam from February 1969 to August 1970. Operational assignments included infantry battalion executive officer, division staff duty, headquarters battalion executive officer, operations officer (G-3) of I Marine Expeditionary Force, and assistant operations officer (J-3A) of Unified Task Force Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. He has commanded an infantry company; Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division; 1st Battalion, 5th Marines; 7th Marine Regiment; and 3d Marine Division. From 2001 to 2005 he served as Commanding General, III Marine Expeditionary Force, and Commander, Marine Corps Bases, Japan and Commander, Marine Forces, Japan.  He was awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun, the Gold and Silver Star; the Korean Order of National Security Merit, Gukseon Medal; and the Republic of China Order of the Resplendent Banner with Gold Sash.

Supporting establishment duties included S-4 of a recruit training battalion, aide-de-camp, recruit training company commander, recruiting station executive officer, company commander of a combined platoon leader’s class, and operations officer for a recruiting district. Marine Corps Headquarters duties included program development officer, coordinator for roles and missions, and Assistant Deputy Commandant for Plans. External duties include military observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Egypt, Deputy for Marine Corps Matters in the Secretary of the Navy’s Office of Program Appraisal, and Executive/Military Assistant to the Director of Central Intelligence. In his last Washington assignment, he served as Director, Asia and Pacific Affairs, in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.

Professional military education assignments after The Basic School included the U.S. Army Infantry Officers Advanced Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the Naval War College, and a tour as a Military Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a distinguished graduate of the Infantry Officers Advanced Course and the Naval War College.

Civilian education includes a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, master’s degrees in strategic planning from the Naval War College and international relations from Salve Regina College. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service by the University of Maryland.

Following retirement, he joined the US Olympic Committee as Chief Operating Officer.  In 2006 he formed his own consulting company.  On 13 May 2009, following Senate confirmation he assumed responsibility as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, a post he held until 1 April 2011.  He is now in business as President of WC Gregson & Associates.  He is a Senior Advisor with Avascent International, a strategic risk advisory firm with significant interests in Asia.

He is a member of the Marine Corps Association, the U.S. Naval Institute, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a Trustee of the Marine Corps University Foundation from May 2012- March 2019, and a former Director of the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund. He is an Honorary Adviser to the Okinawa Development International Council. He and his wife Cindy reside in Nokesville, VA.

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