Captain Anthony C. Valdez completed the Platoon Leader's Course at Officer Candidate School (OCS) over the course of two summers; he completed his first 6 weeks during the summer of 2015 and his second 6 weeks during the summer of 2017. After completing OCS, Captain Valdez returned to Colorado where he graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a B.A. in Integrative Physiology and commissioned on December 22, 2017 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Following his commissioning, Captain Valdez began a period of Permissive Temporary Active Duty assisting Officer Selection Station Denver in the selection, screening, and training of potential candidates for OCS. He attended The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia during the summer of 2018 and, after graduating, began his formal Military Occupational Specialty training to become an Artillery Officer in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He successfully completed Marine Artillery Officer Basic Course, class 2-19, in May 2019 with follow-on orders to 2d Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment. Captain Valdez, upon checking in, immediately departed for Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 5-19 with Battery E serving as platoon commander for 2d platoon. During the conduct of ITX 5-19, Captain Valdez led numerous convoys and emplacements, ensuring his platoon successfully accomplished all tasks that contributed to the Battery's success. Throughout his time as Platoon Commander he conducted numerous live fire events aboard Camp Lejeune. In June 2020, Captain Valdez was assigned the duties of Battalion Fire Support Officer in support of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. He deployed as the Battalion Fire Support Officer in January of 2021 in support of Marine Rotational Forces Europe (MRF-E) 21-1 to Norway. Upon completion of a successful deployment he returned to 2/10 and was assigned to the S3A billet, during which time he acted as the S3A and Battalion FDO for Exercise Rolling Thunder 22-1. Following Rolling Thunder Captain Valdez left the 3 shop to return to Battery E, 2d Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment to assume the billet of Battery XO. As a Battery XO he supervised the Battery in it's performance of 3 live fire field operations aboard Camp Lejeune as well as Rolling Thunder 22-2 at Fort Bragg, NC. Immediately after returning from Rolling Thunder 22-2 Captain Valdez began serving as the acting battery commander of Battery E, where he served until his departure from 2d Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment. Prior to his departure Captain Valdez married his wife, Emily, on 14 May 2022. Shortly after Captain Valdez received orders to 3d Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, reporting on 15 July 2022. He served as the Battery Inspector-Instructor for Battery M for 3 years. During this time he supervised the successful completion of 12 field exercises, 33 regularly scheduled individual trainings, 3 annual training exercises, 2 mobilizations for small detachments of Marines, 3 annual Toys For Tots campaigns, 400 military funeral honors, and multiple other community outreach events. He finished his time with Battery M on 19 July 2025. Upon finishing his time with Battery M, Captain Valdez resigned his active-duty commission and joined the Selected Marine Corps Reserves on 19 September 2025. He began his Marine Corps Reserve career with 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, serving in an assistant operations officer role for one drill weekend before being selected as the next Battery Commander for Delta Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines. He assumed command as the Battery Commander for Delta Battery on 13 December 2025.
Captain Valdez's personal decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.