Robert Magnus Robert Magnus ( born April 28 , 1947 ) , is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 30th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps from September 8 , 2005 to July 2 , 2008 . He retired from active duty on July 17 , 2008 after 38 years of total service . Biography . Magnus was born on April 28 , 1947 in Brooklyn , New York , the youngest child of a bookkeeper and a seamstress . His family moved from Brooklyn ’ s Flatbush neighborhood , to the working class , community of Levittown , Long Island , “ a mile and a half from a potato farm ” . Magnus was sent to a Conservative Hebrew school three days a week and celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Hicksville Jewish Center on Long Island . He majored in modern European and Russian history at the University of Virginia , graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps . He earned a Master ' s Degree in Business Administration from Strayer College in 1993 . His formal military education includes Naval Aviator Training , U . S . Marine Corps Command and Staff College , and the National War College . Marine Corps career . Magnus completing The Basic School at Quantico , Virginia in 1969 and then reported to the Naval Air Training Command , where he was designated a Naval Aviator . In October 1974 , Magnus left the Marine Corps for 15 months to work on Wall Street . According to Magnus , " I realized three things : I really liked flying , I really liked leading people – especially Marines , and that Wall Street wasn ’ t for me . " When he returned to the Marines , Magnus became a weapons and tactics instructor for CH - 46 helicopter aviators . Magnus ’ operational assignments include : Intelligence Officer , HMM - 264 ; Operations Officer , H & MS - 15 SAR Detachment , Task Force Delta , Nam Phong , Thailand ; Training Officer , SOES , MCAS Quantico ; Aviation Safety Officer , Marine Aircraft Group 26 and HMM - 263 ; Weapons and Tactics Instructor , Marine Aircraft Group 26 and HMM - 261 ; Operations Officer , Marine Aircraft Group 29 ; Commanding Officer , HMM - 365 ; Commander , Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area ; Commanding General , MCAS Miramar ; and Deputy Commander , Marine Forces Pacific ( 1999 – July 2000 ) . Magnus ’ staff assignments include Aviation Assault Medium Lift Requirements Officer ; Chief , Logistics Readiness Center , Joint Staff ; Executive Assistant to the Director of the Joint Staff ; Head , Aviation Plans and Programs Branch ; Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Aviation ; Assistant Deputy Commandant for Plans , Policies , and Operations ( July 2000 – August 2001 ) ; and Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources ( August 2001 – September 2005 ) . He was advanced to the rank of General on November 1 , 2005 and began his assignment as the 30th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps on November 8 , 2005 . On July 2 , 2008 , he was succeed as Assistant Commandant by General James F . Amos . Magnus retired from active service in a ceremony on July 17 , 2008 after 38 years of total service . Magnus received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for his years of superior service to the U . S . military . He officially retired on September 1 , 2008 ; at the time of his retirement , he was the last active officer of the Corps who had served in the Vietnam War . Awards and decorations . His personal decorations include :