Colonel Troy Michael Tofflemeyer is a native of Colorado, raised in Littleton, Colorado; Green River, Wyoming; and Del Mar, California. He enlisted in the Army Reserve as an armor crewman at the San Diego Military Entrance Processing Station on 12 February 1990. Colonel Tofflemeyer graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, completing four years in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. He holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from the University of Oklahoma, and a Federal Aviation Administration Commercial Pilot’s license with a Rotorcraft-Helicopter Instrument rating.
In June 2026, Colonel Tofflemeyer assumed command of the 1st Civil Affairs Group at Camp Pendleton, California.
Transitioning to the United States Marine Corps in July 2006, Colonel Tofflemeyer was commissioned as a Captain and Naval Aviator (rotary-wing pilot) through an inter-service transfer from active Army aviation. Serving as a scout/attack helicopter pilot, tank officer, foreign security force advisor, and joint officer, he has held command and staff billets at every echelon from Platoon to Component Commander level, domestically and internationally, including in Southeast Asia, Central America, Europe, and the Middle East. Additionally, he has completed multiple overseas deployments, participating in Operation Enduring Freedom twice, Operation Inherent Resolve, Operation Enduring Sentinel, and Operation Unified Takedown.
Early Army assignments include OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout/attack helicopter pilot, Platoon Leader, Troop Commander, and Regimental Air Operations Officer with the 4th Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, and later as a pilot and Squadron Operations Officer with the 4th Squadron, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment. He also completed a one-year unaccompanied tour at the Korea Air and Space Operation Center with the Republic of Korea-United States Combined Forces Command.
Operational Marine Corps assignments include AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter pilot and assistant Squadron Operations Officer with Helicopter Marine Light Attack-775 (HMLA-775); Tank Platoon Commander and Executive Officer with F Company, 4th Tank Battalion; Foreign Service Force (FSF) advisor and Operations Officer for the 6th Brigade Afghan Border Police Mentor Team in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, with I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Forward (FWD); Air Planner for the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) Black Sea Rotational Force (BSRF) in 2012, 2013, and 2014 for Marine Forces Europe; lead planner for U.S. Africa Command’s Africa Partnership Station for Marine Forces Africa; Inter-Organizational Integration Officer and the 2d CAG Detachment Officer-in-Charge to II MEF; plank holder for the establishment of Marine Corps Advisor Company-A, where he served as a Foreign Service Force Advisor Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader, advising within the Southern Command’s Area of Responsibility (AOR); the USMC’s Liaison Officer to Navy Central Command’s Combined Task Force-59 for Unmanned Systems, Robotics, and Artificial Intelligence, supporting Operation Enduring Sentinel and Operation Unified Takedown within U.S. Central Command’s AOR; and as a Foreign Service Force Advisor Team Leader with Marine Corps Advisor Company-A, advising the Romanian 307th Naval Infantry Regiment in Romania’s Danube River Delta.
His formal military education includes O-6 Command Cornerstone, the National Defense University’s Joint and Combined Warfighting School, Air Force Air War College, Marine Corps Command & Staff College, Army Command & Staff Combined Arms Services Staff School, Air Force Joint Aerospace Command and Control Course, Marine Corps Foreign Service Force Advisor Course, Marine Corps Civil-Military Operations School, Army Aviation Captains Career Course, Army Armor Course, Army Scout Leaders Course, Airborne School, and Flight Schools.
Colonel Tofflemeyer’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal with three Gold Stars (4th award), the Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Gold Star (2nd award), the Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf (2nd award), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy Unit Commendation, Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal with four bronze star devices (5th award), Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal with one bronze star device (2nd award), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with bronze star device, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with three Mobilization devices, silver and bronze hourglass devices, and numeral 5 (5th award), NATO-ISAF Medal, Navy & Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with four bronze star devices (5th award).