Lieutenant Colonel Carina A. Cuellar received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Economics from the University of Southern California in 2003. After graduating, she attended Officer Candidate School and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in August 2003.
Upon completion of Officer Candidate School, Second Lieutenant Cuellar attended Harvard Law School. After graduating from law school in 2006, First Lieutenant Cuellar reported to The Basic School and the Naval Justice School, where she was the honor graduate.
Upon graduation from the Naval Justice School, First Lieutenant Cuellar reported to Marine Corps Installations West, Camp Pendleton, California, in January 2008. She was assigned duty with CLR-17 and served as a Trial Counsel with Legal Services Support Team Echo. In 2009, Captain Cuellar deployed as a Rule of Law Advisor with Multi-National Force-Iraq. After returning from deployment, she resumed her duties as a trial counsel.
In 2011, Captain Cuellar transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve, where she served as a Law of War Instructor with the Operational Law Branch, Reserve Legal Support, Judge Advocate Division, Headquarters Marine Corps, from January 2012 to September 2013.
In September 2013, Captain Cuellar was mobilized and deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, with Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, where she served as an Operational Law Attorney. Major Cuellar returned to the Operational Law Branch in January 2015, where she served until 2017. In 2017, Major Cuellar began serving as a Legal Advisor in support of NATO’s two strategic commands — Allied Command Transformation and Allied Command Operations.
In 2018, Major Cuellar commenced her duties as a plans officer with the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, where she was mobilized on multiple occasions in support of Joint Task Forces.
In 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Cuellar joined Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command where she served as the IMA Detachment’s G-5 Section Lead.
Lieutenant Colonel Cuellar is a graduate of Marine Corps Command and Staff College and the Joint Combined Warfighting Course-Hybrid, where she received the Director’s Distinguished Writing Award.
Her personal decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (second award), Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal (second award), and Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal.