LtCol Ruffins was born and raised on Lakenheath Air Force Base in England. He graduated from bootcamp at MCRD San Diego in November 2000, where he was meritoriously promoted to Private First Class at graduation. While at MCRD, PFC Ruffins was awarded the Naval ROTC Scholarship and attended the University of Arizona NROTC Program as a midshipman. Midshipman Ruffins graduated from Arizona with a Bachelors in Communication and earned his Commission as a Second Lieutenant in December 2004. He reported to The Basic School in June 2005. Following The Basic School and MOS training as an Air Defense Officer at Twentynine Palms, California, 2nd Lieutenant Ruffins was assigned to Marine Air Command Squadron 1, Yuma, Arizona in May 2006.

In August 2006, 2nd Lieutenant Ruffins deployed to Al Asad, Iraq and served as the Airspace Cell Coordinator for the Tactical Air Command Center (TACC). Demonstrating leadership ability and technical acumen in this role, he was subsequently promoted to 1st Lieutenant in December 2006 and was selected to become the Adjutant and Legal Officer for MACS-1 (REIN). In November 2007, 1stLt Ruffins volunteered for an Individual Augment deployment to serve as Team Leader and Training Officer for Police Transition Team 4210 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq in which he advised the Iraqi Provincial Chief of Police on all matters pertaining to law enforcement throughout Al Anbar Province. In September 2008, following his second combat tour to Iraq, 1stLt Ruffins was selected to become the Operations Officer for MACS – 1 (REIN) and subsequently promoted to Captain in February 2009. Captain Ruffins PCS’d to the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force – South, Key West, FL in September 2009 where he served as the Air Bridge Denial Officer, Tactical Action Officer, Command Duty Officer and was later selected to be the Deputy Current Operations Officer for the Command. While at JIATF-South, Captain Ruffins attained a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Conflict Resolution with an emphasis in International and Transnational Security Issues from the American Military University. Upon completion of his Masters, Captain Ruffins was accepted to and graduated from Marine Special Operations Assessment and Selection in 2010 and Level C Full Spectrum SERE School in 2012. Following his graduation from SERE, Capt Ruffins attended the Marine Special Operations School (MSOS) Individual Training Course (ITC) from January to September 2012. After MARSOC ITC, Capt Ruffins deployed to Afghanistan as the MARSOC LNO and Executive Officer to Regional Task Force Afghanistan on Camp Vance, Bagram AFB.

Upon returning home from Afghanistan, Capt Ruffins served as the Training Officer for MTACS-28 in Cherry Point, North Carolina before Direct Affiliating to the Reserves with MTACS-48 in November 2013. While at MTACS-48, Capt Ruffins served as Training Officer and Air Defense Coordinator within the TACC. In January 2015, Capt Ruffins transferred to 3D Civil Affairs Group where he completed Marine Corps Civil Military Operations School, attaining the 0530 Civil Affairs MOS in March of that year. Throughout his time at 3D CAG, Major Ruffins served as Team Leader and Exercise Lead for Exercise Platinum Wolf in Serbia (2016), Det Commander and Exercise Lead for Balikatan on Panay Island, Philippines (2017), Det Commander and Exercise Lead for Balikatan on Luzon Island, Philippines (2018), and Det Commander and CA LNO at Division in support of MEFEX in Japan (2019). Major Ruffins graduated from Marine Corps Command and Staff College in May 2020.

Upon completing PME, Maj Ruffins transferred to MTACS-48 to serve as Executive Officer, where he also graduated from the Joint Combined Warfighting School, attaining completion in Joint Professional Military Education II. While at MTACS-48, Major Ruffins was selected to be the Operations Officer for 3D CAG, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. While serving as Operations Officer for 3D CAG, LtCol Ruffins deployed Marines throughout the globe in support of various exercises and operations, including Exercise Balikatan 22 in the Philippines, Operation Afghan Welcome, 31st MEU 21.2 and 22.1, MARSOC RAVEN Exercise 22-3, and deployed CA Marines to South East Asia in support of MARSOC.

LtCol Ruffins’ personal decorations include the Joint Service Commendation Medal (2nd Award), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2nd Award), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.