Major General (sel) Melvin G. Spiese

Commanding General, Training and Education Command

Brigadier General Spiese was commissioned via the NROTC program after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in May of 1976.

After The Basic School, Brigadier General Spiese was assigned to 3d Battalion, 4th Marines as a rifle platoon commander, executive officer and commanding officer with Company L, and served on the battalion staff. Upon return to CONUS, Brigadier General Spiese was assigned to Marine Barracks, Naval Weapons Station, Concord, CA. In May of 1981 he was assigned to 3d Battalion, 9th Marines as the Commanding Officer of Company I and battalion S-4. In May 1983 he was transferred to the NROTC Unit, Illinois Institute of Technology as the Marine Officer Instructor.

Leaving Illinois in June 1986, Brigadier General Spiese was posted to Headquarters Marine Corps, serving as the Head of Regular Officer Procurement. Following his tour at Headquarters, he attended Marine Corps Command and Staff College, graduating in May of 1990. After graduation, Brigadier General Spiese was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni Japan and assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 12 as the Assistant Operations Officer and Ground Combat Liaison.

Brigadier General Spiese was assigned to 6th Marines in July of 1991 as the Executive Officer of 3d Battalion, then regiment S-3. He assumed command of 2d Force Reconnaissance Company in December 1993. Upon relinquishing command in July 1995, Brigadier General Spiese was reassigned to U.S. Special Operations Command, serving as a Policy Officer dealing with Counter Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Marine Corps matters. Upon his departure from USSOCOM, Brigadier General Spiese attended Top Level School at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies as a Fellow in the Advanced Operational Arts Studies program. He remained a second year serving as a seminar leader for the Advanced Military Studies Program, a second year program for majors attending the Army Command and General Staff College.

Brigadier General Spiese was assigned to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in June of 1999 as the Director, Tactical Training Exercise Control Group. He assumed command of the School of Infantry (East) in June of 2001, and was assigned as the Director, Expeditionary Warfare School upon relinquishing command in July of 2003. In March of 2005, Brigadier General Spiese assumed the duties of Commanding General Training Command, Deputy Commanding General Training and Education Command.

Melvin G. Spiese was selected for Brigadier General in February 2005. He served as the Deputy Director for Strategy, Policy and Assessments, U.S. European Command from October 2005. He served as Commanding General of Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California from July 2007. His current assignment, as of May 2008, is Commanding General, Training and Education Command.

Brigadier General Spiese has been awarded three Legions of Merit, the Joint Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, three Navy Commendation Medals, and Joint Service Achievement Medal. He is a Military Freefall Parachutist and Marine Combatant Diver. Brigadier General Spiese has earned a Masters of Science degree from the University of Southern California, and a Masters of Military Arts and Science degree from the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies.