COLONEL GUILLERMO ROSALES, Jr.
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Marine Corps Detachment Commander
Joint Enabling Capabilities Command
Colonel Guillermo Rosales Jr. was born in Mexico and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1992. He received his commission through the Officer Candidates Course (OCC) in April 1997.
He was assigned to 1st Marine Division as the Combat Engineer platoon commander for Battalion Landing Teams 1/5 and 3/1. While assigned to the 13th MEU, he conducted Humanitarian operations in East Timor (Indonesia) and security and recovery operations for the USS COLE in Yemen. He was named the Marine Corps Engineer Officer of the Year in 2000.
He left active duty as a Captain and joined Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment (2/24). He attended the Reserve Infantry Officers Course (IOC) and participated in exercise ULICHI FOCUS LENS on the Korean Peninsula. Re-assigned to Echo Company, he mobilized for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 2-2 in 2004-05. Col Rosales then assumed command of Fox Company and conducted bilateral training operations in Niger. He mobilized with the company in 2008 and deployed to Anbar Province for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 8-1.
Selected to serve as the 2/24 Battalion Operations Officer, he planned and executed multiple theater security cooperation exercises, such as LF CARAT (INDOPACOM), SOUTHERN EXCHANGE (SOUTHCOM) and UNITAS GOLD (Florida). In 2010, he led a detachment to Mexico to train members of the Mexican Marine Corps in support of their ongoing operations against Narco-Terrorism.
In 2013, Col Rosales transferred to the 4th Marine Division G3/5 staff as a Plans Officer and participated in exercise AFRICAN LION as the Future Operations Officer for 25th Marine Regiment.
Col Rosales then assumed command of 2D Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment (Infantry) and mobilized to lead a Joint Detachment to the Republic of Georgia as part of the Georgia Deployment Program (GDP). Upon his return, he led a bi-lateral exercise with the ROK Marine Corps in Korea. After command, he was assigned to 23rd Marines as the Regimental Executive Officer. Two years later, he transferred to the MAGTF Staff Training Program (MSTP) IMA detachment as the Director of Plans.
In 2018, he mobilized to the Pentagon to serve as the Deputy Chief, Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team (aka Project Maven). In this role, he supervised the acceleration and integration of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) within the DoD. Upon completion, he was command selected as Senior Reserve Advisor (SRA) for 25th Marine Regiment. During that time, he served as the Commander, Special Marine Air Ground Task Force (SP-MAGTF) for UNITAS 2022 in Brazil and UNITAS 2023 in Colombia. He now serves as the Marine Detachment OIC, Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, USTRANSCOM.
Col Rosales has served as the Chief of Staff for the Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board (MCRPB) and a uniformed advisor to the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) AI/ML team.
His personal awards include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (with Gold Star in lieu of third award), Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon. He is married and has two young daughters.