Robert Neller was born in February 1953 at Camp Pork, La.
He attended East Lansing High School in Lansing, Mich., and graduated in 1971. Throughout his early life, Neller enjoyed playing with toy soldiers and showed interest in studying the Civil War. Although his mother thought he would go to law school, he instead channeled his early fascination with the military and chose to pursue a career in service, following in the footsteps of his father, who served in World War II. After graduating from the University of Virginia, he joined the Marine Corps in 1975 as a commissioned officer. His brother also joined the military and eventually became a Navy captain.
With the Marines, Neller served in several roles. After attending the Basic School in Virginia in 1976, he served as a platoon commander. Throughout the next decade of his career, he served in a multitude of positions, including as an aide de camp at the Marine Recruit Corps Depot in San Diego, Calif., commander of the Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division; and, after graduating from the Advanced Armor Officer Course, as a company executive officer at the Basic School.
Later in his career, Neller served in several foreign conflict zones. In 1988, he was commanding officer for the Marine Corps Security Force Company. He also commanded the 3rd Light Armored Infantry Battalion in Somalia from 1991 to 1993. Afterwards, he attended the NATO Defense College in Italy before serving in Belgium, then Bosnia and Herzegovina. After serving in several high-ranking roles in the U.S., including at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, N.C., he deployed to Iraq in 2005 and 2007 as a deputy commanding general.
After returning from Iraq, Neller became the commander of the Marine Forces Central Command in 2012, serving for around two years. He then became the commander of the Marine Forces Command in 2014 before his nomination for commandant of the Marine Corps in July 2015. Neller was confirmed to the position two months later, becoming the highest-ranking officer in the Marines. After serving in this position for nearly four years, he retired in September 2019. During his 45-year career, he earned a Defense Superior Service Medal and a Legion of Merit.
Shortly after Neller’s retirement, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin appointed him to serve on the Naming Commission. Neller also began working at the University of Texas at Austin.
Early in his life, Neller married his wife, Darcy, with whom he has three children: Kurt, Brett, and Claire. As of 2015, he also had one grandson, Connor.
We honor his service.
