Bio: MG Richard P Mills

Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills is currently deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, where he serves as Commander, Regional Command Southwest and the Commanding General, First Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

A native of Huntington, N.Y., Maj. Gen. Mills was commissioned in 1975 via Officer Candidate School.  Following The Basic School, Second Lieutenant Mills reported to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, Calif. where he served as a Rifle and Weapons Platoon Commander, Company Executive Officer, and Battalion Adjutant.  From 1978 to 1979 First Lieutenant Mills served with the 3d Marine Division on Okinawa, Japan.  First Lieutenant Mills was assigned to the 2d Recruit Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C., from 1979 to 1982 where he served as a Series Commander and upon promotion to Captain, assumed duties as Commanding Officer, Company D, Recruit Training Regiment.  Next, Captain Mills was a student at the Amphibious Warfare School, Quantico, Va. and from 1983 to 1986, served with the 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C. as the Commanding Officer of Alpha Company and as the Regimental Assistant Operations Officer.

Promoted to Major in 1986, he was assigned to the Officer Assignment Branch, Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. from 1986 to 1989 and subsequently attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Quantico, Va.  Following a tour as Military Observer with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine, Maj. Mills reported to Marine Air Group 29, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, New River N.C. as the Air/Ground Liaison Officer.

Lt. Col. Mills served as the Operations Officer, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU SOC) from 1993 until 1995.  From 1995 to 1997 he was assigned as the Amphibious Exercise Officer on the staff of the Commander United States Sixth Fleet in Gaeta, Italy.  Lt. Col. Mills returned to the 2d Marine Division in 1997 where he assumed command of 3d Battalion, 6th Marines and subsequently Battalion Landing Team 3/6, 24th MEU (SOC).

Col. Mills studied at the Royal College of Defense Studies, London, England in 1999 and then returned to II Marine Expeditionary Force as the Officer in Charge of the Special Operations Training Group before commanding the 24th MEU (SOC) from August 2000 until June 2003.  While under command of Col. Mills, the 24th MEU (SOC) participated in Operations JOINT GUARDIAN in Kosovo, Enduring Freedom, and combat operations ashore during IRAQI FREEDOM as part of Task Force Tarawa.

In June of 2003, Col. Mills reported to Headquarters, United States European Command (EUCOM) in Stuttgart, Germany for duty as the Assistant Chief of Staff.  Upon selection to Brigadier General in May of 2004, Brig. Gen. Mills assumed duties as the Deputy Director of Operations at EUCOM.  In 2006 Brig. Gen. Mills was assigned as Director, Manpower Management Division at Headquarters Marine Corps.  In May of 2007, Brig. Gen. Mills assumed command of the 1st Marine Division.

From October 2007 to January 2009, Maj. Gen. Mills served concurrently as Assistant Division Commander, 1st Marine Division and Commander, Ground Combat Element, Multi-National Forces - West, Al Anbar Province, Iraq.  Upon returning from Iraq, Maj. Gen. Mills continued service as the Assistant Division Commander until July of 2009 when he again assumed command of the 1st Marine Division.  In December 2009, Maj. Gen. Mills was also selected to command the First Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) which deployed to Regional Command South, Afghanistan in April 2010, assuming command of all Marine combat units in Helmand and Nimroz provinces.