William Messmer

Biography

Will is an active-duty Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. He is pursuing a PhD at Notre Dame as a Commandant of the Marine Corps PhD Strategist fellow. Research interests include grand strategy, military strategy, civil-military relations, and security studies.

He has commanded at the platoon, company, and battalion level and deployed to the Middle East and INDO-PACOM area. Additionally, he participated in multinational exercises in Norway, Portugal, and the Baltic Sea Region. He served as the lead operational planner with Task Force Northeast as part of the DOD response to the COVID-19 pandemic in support of FEMA. He recently served at Headquarters Marine Corps with Programs and Resources.

Will is a 2005 graduate of The Citadel and received his commission from the NROTC program. He is a graduate of the Expeditionary Warfare School, Naval Command and Staff College (Masters of Defense and Strategic Studies), and Maritime Advanced Warfighting School. He holds a master's degree in Management and Leadership from Webster University and a master’s degree in Diplomacy from Norwich University.