Michael G. Dana spent 37 years in the Marine Corps, rising from a tank platoon commander to one of the most senior logisticians in the service. When this biography was first published he was a major general. He went on to earn a third star, serving as Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics and later as Director of the Marine Corps Staff before retiring as a lieutenant general in September 2019.
Quick Facts
- Final rank: Lieutenant General
- Commissioned: June 1982, Second Lieutenant
- Education: Union College, Schenectady, New York
- Years of service: 37 (retired September 2019)
- Specialty: Logistics
- Combat and contingency deployments: Desert Storm (Kuwait), Operation Restore Hope (Somalia), the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Iraq (2006–2007), Afghanistan (2011–2012)
Early Career
A New York native, Dana graduated from Union College and was commissioned a second lieutenant in June 1982. His first assignment was with tanks: he deployed to the Mediterranean in 1984 as a tank platoon commander with Battalion Landing Team 1/8.
He then moved to sea duty as the Combat Cargo Officer aboard USS Duluth (LPD-6), deploying to the Western Pacific in 1987 with Battalion Landing Team 1/9 embarked. A combat cargo officer is responsible for getting a landing force’s Marines, vehicles, and supplies loaded aboard ship and back ashore, an early introduction to the logistics work that would define his career.
Dana went on to serve as the Logistics Officer for Battalion Landing Team 3/1, then as a company commander and operations officer with 1st Landing Support Battalion, which took him to Kuwait during Desert Storm and to Somalia during Operation Restore Hope.
Command and Mid-Career Assignments
After a tour with the Standing Joint Task Force at Camp Lejeune that included a deployment to the former Republic of Yugoslavia, Dana served as the II Marine Expeditionary Force G-4 Logistics Operations Officer and then with Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1).
From 2000 to 2002 he commanded Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 in Yuma, Arizona. Under his command the squadron received the Meritorious Unit Commendation and was named the Marine Corps Logistics Unit of the Year.
Next came Okinawa, Japan, with III Marine Expeditionary Force. There he served as the G-7 Inspector General, Chief of Staff of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and III MEF Deputy G-3 Operations Officer, and he led the Marine Central Command Coordination Element at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. He then took command of Marine Wing Support Group 37 and deployed with it to Iraq from 2006 to 2007.
General Officer Service
As a general officer, Dana commanded the 2nd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, including its deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012. He also served as Assistant Deputy Commandant for Logistics at Headquarters Marine Corps.
His joint assignments took him well beyond the Marine Corps. He was a strategic planner at U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany; Director of Logistics at U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Director of Strategy and Policy at U.S. Pacific Command in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In September 2015 he was promoted to lieutenant general and became Deputy Commandant for Installations and Logistics, the Marine Corps’ senior logistician, responsible for the bases, supplies, and equipment that keep Marines ready to deploy. In that role he testified before Congress on Marine Corps readiness. His final assignment was Director of the Marine Corps Staff at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.
Professional Military Education
Dana was an honor graduate of Amphibious Warfare School, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and the Naval War College. He also completed the School of Advanced Warfighting, the Marine Corps’ selective second-year program for future operational planners.
After the Marine Corps
Since retiring in 2019, Dana has served as an Executive Fellow at the Institute for Defense and Business in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Why His Career Matters to Marine Families
Most recruits picture the infantry when they think of the Marine Corps, but every rifleman depends on Marines who move fuel, food, ammunition, and equipment to where it is needed. Dana’s career shows how far that path can go: from loading a ship’s cargo as a young lieutenant to overseeing logistics and installations for the entire Corps. If your son or daughter ends up in a logistics specialty, they are joining the same line of work that produced a three-star general.