Lieutenant Colonel Chris Richardella was commissioned a Second Lieutenant through the NROTC program in May 2003. From 2004 to 2006, Lieutenant Colonel Richardella served as a rifle platoon commander and company executive officer with Company B, 1st Battalion, 2d Marines in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He deployed twice with the battalion to Iraq as part of Battalion Landing Team 1/2 with the 24th MEU and the 22d MEU SOC.
From 2006 to 2009, Lieutenant Colonel Richardella was assigned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, where he served as a field training platoon commander, series commander, and company commander in Weapons and Field Training Battalion and Second Recruit Training Battalion.
Following his attendance at the Expeditionary Warfare School from 2009 to 2010, Lieutenant Colonel Richardella was assigned to 2d Battalion, 3d Marines in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, where he served as a rifle company commander from 2010 to 2013. He deployed twice with 2/3, once to Afghanistan and once as the inaugural Marine Rotational Force to Darwin, Australia.
From 2013 to 2016, Lieutenant Colonel Richardella served in the National Capital Region. There he attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College for one year; and served as an operations officer and briefer for two years within the Current Operations Branch in Plans, Policies, and Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps at the Pentagon. From 2016 to 2019, Lieutenant Colonel Richardella served as the Commanding Officer of Recruiting Station San Antonio, Texas.
After recruiting duty, Lieutenant Colonel Richardella was assigned to the 24th MEU in Camp Lejeune, NC where he served as the operations officer and deployed to Moron, Spain as part of the Special Purpose MAGTF Crisis Response – Africa 19.2 rotation. He assumed his current duty as the commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines in February 2020.
Lieutenant Colonel Richardella holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Phoenix in 2008 and a Master of Military Studies degree from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in 2014. His other formal military education includes: The Basic School (2003), the Infantry Officers Course (2004), the Army Airborne School (2008), the Expeditionary Warfare School (2010), and the Marine Corps Command and Staff College (2014).
Lieutenant Colonel Richardella’s personal decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with combat distinguishing device, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal with one gold star, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with combat distinguishing device and two gold stars, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon with one gold star.