Major William R Appleby, USMC
Executive Officer
2d Battalion, 1st Marines
Camp Pendleton, CA
Major Appleby was born in Denver, Colorado in 1972. His family relocated to Oklahoma where he graduated from Norman High School in 1990.
Maj Appleby enlisted into the Marine Corps in April, 1993. Upon completion of initial training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, Marine Combat Training and the School of Infantry, he graduated as an 0341, Mortarman. He reported for duty in the fall of 1993 to 2d Battalion, 7th Marines Weapons Company, 81mm mortar platoon where he took part in several Combined Arms Exercises (CAX) and a deployment to Okinawa with a float to the Philippines.
Upon leaving 2/7, Maj Appleby returned to Oklahoma where he graduated from University of Central Oklahoma in 1998. He re-entered the Marine Corps in 2005, enlisting with the USMC Selected Marine Corps Reserve and joining 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, India Company in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
He was selected as an Officer Candidate in 2006 and attended Officer Candidate School, The Basic School and Infantry Officer Course at Quantico Virginia in 2007.
After a brief stint as a platoon commander in TOW Company, Broken Arrow Oklahoma, he volunteered to join 3d Battalion, 24th Marines Weapons Company out of Springfield, Missouri for the Operation Iraqi Freedom 9.2 deployment in 2009. Upon completion of the mission of OIF 9.2, Maj Appleby volunteered with CENTCOM to join the Embedded Training Team Cell under MEB-A in Operation Enduring Freedom 10.1, where he acted as the XO/S3 Mentor with a 14 man team to the Afghan National Army Kandak 2-2-215. Completing the mission in May 2010, he returned home and transferred to 1st Battalion, 23d Marines Weapons Company out of Austin, Texas. Initially a platoon commander, he was later moved to the billet of XO for WPNS Co, in which he served for the duration of the Operation Enduring Freedom 11.1 deployment. Upon completion of this deployment, Maj Appleby returned home to transfer back to Springfield with 3d Battalion, 24th Marines, Weapons Company as the Company Commander from Dec 2011 to March 2012.
In March 2012, Maj Appleby was selected to return to active duty, (MARADMIN 159/12), completing his “B” billet at TECOM as a part of the G3/5/7. While working in that capacity, he completed Expeditionary Warfare School (Non-resident) in May of 2014. He then took orders to 3d Battalion, 1st Marines to assume the billet of Assistant Operations Officer for the 15th MEU, WESTPAC 15-2 deployment. Upon returning in Dec 2015, he was selected to command Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA and completed the FDB-W 17.1 deployment.
Promoting to his current rank in May 2017, Maj Appleby took over as the Commanding Officer of Company H, 3d Battalion, 1st Marines. After a small stint as the Lead Evaluator for I MEF G7 for TF Al Asad/TF Al Taqqadum CE dets, Maj Appleby was assigned to Marine Corps Security Forces Regiment as Commanding Officer and Director of MCSF Training Company in Chesapeake, VA.
In 2019, he was selected for and attended the U.S. Army’s, Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, KS. He graduated in June 2020 from the course, and attained a Masters of Military Art and Science (MMAS) degree with a focus on history.
Currently, Maj Appleby has been assigned to 2d Battalion, 1st Marines as the Battalion Executive Officer.
Maj Appleby is married to Andrea and has two daughters, Riley, (attending the University of Oklahoma), and Reagan, (attending Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA).