Lieutenant General Lawrence D. Nicholson, USMC (Ret.) retired after 39 years of active duty

service to our nation in October of 2018 as the Commanding General of III Marine Expeditionary

Force in Japan. He was born in Toronto, Canada, and commissioned after graduating from The

Citadel, in Charleston SC in 1979. From 1980-1990 he served as an Infantryman in the First

Marine Division, and as a Series and Company Commander at MCRD San Diego. From 1990-

1993 he served at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Additionally, he served

as a United Nations Observer in the Middle East in 1994-95, at NATO HQ in Brussels, Belgium

from 2002-04, as the Commander of the Warlords of 2nd Bn 2nd Marines from 1999-2001, and

as the Senior Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon from 2010-

2012. Lt.Gen. Nicholson earned a master’s degree from the United States Army Command and

General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS. and is a 2002 graduate of the NATO Defense

College in Rome, Italy.

Multiple combat tours include service as the G-3 (Operations) of the 1st Marine Division in

Ramadi, Iraq during 2004-05, and as the Commander of the 5th Marine Regiment in Fallujah,

Iraq 2006-07. He commanded Task Force Leatherneck and the 2nd Marine Expeditionary

Brigade in Helmand Province Afghanistan from 2009-2010. He later returned to Afghanistan in

2012 as the CJ-3 Operations Officer for the ISAF Joint Command (IJC). Lt.Gen. Nicholson

commanded the famed 1st Marine (Blue Diamond) Division at Camp Pendleton California from

2013-2015.

After retiring from active duty, Lt.Gen. Nicholson served as a Vice President for Execution and

Leadership for the H.T. Hackney Company in Knoxville, TN until July of 2022. Today he serves

as a Senior Mentor and Highly Qualified Expert for the Joint Staff travelling globally in support of

large scale exercises. Additionally, he serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow for the Sasakawa

Peace Foundation is on the advisory board for Spirit of America and serves on several

veterans-focused non-profit boards. He and his wife Deborah enjoy spoiling their 9

grandchildren, and hiking in the beautiful Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.