Lt Gen. Robert E. Schmidle , Jr. (Ret.)

Lieutenant General Schmidle was the first Deputy Commander of United States
Cyber Command, responsible for standing up the command while concurrently
executing full spectrum cyber operations. Subsequently he was the head of Marine
Aviation and his final assignment on active duty was as the Principal Deputy
Director, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation in the Office of the Secretary of
Defense.

He has extensive operational flying experience, amassing over 4,700 hours in
tactical fighters, participating in combat operations in Iraqi and Bosnia. He
commanded an F-18 squadron, VMFA-251 in combat and aboard USS America as
part of Carrier Air Wing One. He was also selected for an extraordinary second
operation command of another F-18 squadron, VMFA-115.

As a Colonel he commanded the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force
(Experimental), planning and executing the Marine Corps Warfighing Experiments.
As a Brigadier General he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary
of Defense Quadrennial Defense Review Team and the Deputy Director for
Resources and Acquisition Joint Staff J-8.

As a Major General he commanded the First Marine Aircraft Wing, which
included all Marine Corps aviation in the Pacific Theater. He also led the Marine
Corps Quadrennial Defense Review Team.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Drew University, a master’s degree from
American University and earned his doctorate degree from Georgetown University.
His doctoral thesis, recognized with distinction, was titled “The Power of Context in
Shaping Moral Choices.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the
Defense Science Board. His myriad publications are in the fields of moral
philosophy, social psychology and military history.