Battlefield Fallujah Warriors: Major Todd Desgrossielliers, USMC

Executive Officer, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines (Commander, Task Force Bruno)

Episode 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Interviewer: Captain Joe Winslow
Camp Baharia, Iraq - December 30, 2004
Courtesy of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Marine Corps History Division

Todd Desgrossielliers is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel and infantry officer with 31 years of service to our nation. A native of Auburn, Maine, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1985 and attained the rank of Sergeant before becoming an infantry officer in 1991. He commanded at each rank and most recently served as the Commanding Officer, The Basic School from 2012 to 2014. He also served as the Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines from 2005 to 2007 - deploying the Battalion to Iraq in 2006-2007, where they conducted counter-insurgency operations in Ramadi and Fallujah. Previously, he served as the Executive Officer for 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines – deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004-2005. During this deployment he fought in Operation Al Fajr in Fallujah, Iraq where he was wounded several times in close quarters combat with the enemy. He is also a veteran of numerous other operations and 11 unit deployments overseas.

Desgrossielliers is a graduate of the Marine Corps Scout-Sniper Instructor Course; the Marine Corps Summer Mountain Leaders’ Course; the Amphibious Warfare School; and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. He also completed the National Security Fellowship at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2008. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in History from Boston University and a Master's Degree in Military Studies from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College.

Desgrossielliers is married to the former Christiana Drake. They have a daughter Katherine, and two sons, Todd Jr. and Michael. His personal military decorations include the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals both with Valor Devices, two Purple Heart Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon.

Desgrossielliers is also the 1990 recipient of the Boston Semper Fidelis Society’s Leadership Award. In June 2006, he received “an expression of sentiment” from the Maine State Legislature “for gallantry in action against the enemy of the United States.” In 2007, he was recognized as the “Maine Hero” for the Department of Defense’s “50 Heroes of the 50 States” Program. He is the 2009 recipient of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) Leadership Award.

Desgrossielliers joined the Board of Directors for Camp Corral in 2019. Additionally, he began serving as on the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program in 2016; in 2017 as the PHWFF National Representative on the Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee; and – in 2019 – as the Secretary for Committee’s Partnerships Subcommittee. Desgrossielliers is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Fly Fishers International, Academy of United States Veterans, and a lifetime member of Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, and The Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Desgrossielliers developed a love for fly fishing growing up in Maine chasing its abundant native brook trout and landlocked salmon in its numerous lakes and streams. He reconnected with fly fishing after joining the Project Healing Waters’ Fly Fishing program at Fort Belvoir, Virginia upon the recommendation of his physical therapist in March 2015. As a participant and volunteer, Desgrossielliers recognized the remarkable physical and emotional transformation that the Project Healing Waters Program initiated for him and for his fellow participants and he decided that he wanted to join its exceptional team after his medical retirement from the military in 2016.

Source: Project Healing Waters