Lori became the third woman 3-Star Lieutenant General in the United States. While she is very proud of her rise in rank, she is most proud of how she connected with her team. For her, it was a humbling experience. Our conversation will be about Lori’s experience, what drew her to enter the military, what some of her significant personal and professional learnings were, and what she envisions as opportunities in her retirement.
Lori Reynolds retired as a Lieutenant General after a 35-year career in the United States Marine Corps. Her service culminated as the Deputy Commandant for Information, a newly established Deputy Commandant that recognized the growing importance of information, cyberspace and digital technologies and the new war-fighting domains of space and cyberspace. During her career, she commanded Marines at every rank, including command of formations in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a General Officer, she commanded the Marine Corps iconic recruit depot at Parris Island SC, where she was responsible for recruiting and training 20,000 new Marines per year. She subsequently commanded Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command, where she completed the build of the Marine Corps’ newest war-fighting component and was responsible for the Marine Corps first ever cyber effect operations in support of the Joint force.
Lori served as the senior woman in the Marine Corps for 8 years and is an expert in team building, leading diverse teams, managing complexity, risk and talent management, and organizational change management.
She earned a BS in political science from the US Naval Academy, a MS from the Navy War College and an MS from the Army War College. She was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2020 and was the inaugural recipient of the Admiral Grace Hopper award at the National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace.