Colonel David Emmel received a commission as a second lieutenant through the Marine Corps Enlisted Commissioning Education Program following his graduation from Oregon State University in May 1998.
Colonel Emmel served in command as the Light Counter-Mechanized Platoon Commander and the Anti-Armor Platoon Commander, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines; the Commanding Officer, Company B, Anti-Terrorism Battalion; the Commanding Officer, Marine Security Guard Security Augmentation Unit; the Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 2d Marines; and the Commanding Officer (Acting), 8th Marines.
Colonel Emmel's staff assignments include tours as the Assistant Operations Officer, 2d Battalion, 6th Marines; the Operations Officer and the Executive Officer, Company D, Marine Security Guard Battalion; the Operations Officer, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines; the Branch Head, Mission Assurance, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command; and the Assistant Chief of Staff G-3, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South. Colonel Emmel also completed a joint tour as the Plans Division Chief and the Joint Training Team Chief, Special Operations Command – Joint Capabilities, U.S. Special Operations Command and served as a Faculty Advisor, Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
Colonel Emmel deployed with both the 24th and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Units in support of the Global War on Terrorism; with Company B, Anti-Terrorism Battalion and with 2d Battalion, 9th Marines in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; and with 1st Battalion, 2d Marines as part of the Black Sea Rotational Force, the Marine Rotational Force – Europe, and the Special Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Africa.
Colonel Emmel holds a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Master of Arts in International Relations, and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences in History. His formal military education includes The Basic School, the Infantry Officers Course, the Expeditionary Warfare School, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Joint Forces Staff College. He also served as the Commandant of the Marine Corps Military Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.