David Batcheler

Colonel David “Rico” Batcheler is a military fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), sourced from the USMC Commandant’s Executive Level Education Program. A naval aviator commissioned in 2004, his operational experience spans multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan and the Middle East, including service with the 24th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units, and humanitarian and bilateral support missions in both the Caribbean and the Philippines. He has held key tactical and operational leadership roles in multiple aviation units, including Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One and as the commander of VMM-163. Additionally, his staff roles include sensitive activity planning at the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center/Joint Staff, and most recently, he supervised daily operations of forty-three squadrons across the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing and the INDOPACOM region. Academically, he has a BS in ocean engineering from Texas A&M University and an MA in military studies from the Australian National University, while attending and completing the Joint Command and Staff College in Canberra, Australia.