Lieutenant Colonel Robert (RJ) M. Jones Jr. enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in May 1999 and reported to Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment in Camp Pendleton. He served as a rifle platoon squad leader and 60mm mortar section leader. During his tour with 2/4 he deployed to Okinawa, Japan, twice in support of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
In December of 2002, Sergeant Jones was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Meritorious Commissioning Program (MCP). Following his completion of The Basic School and Infantry Officer Course, he was assigned the military occupational specialty of 0302, infantry officer.
In November 2003, Lieutenant Jones reported to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Camp Pendleton. From November 2003 to July 2006 he deployed twice, once to Ramadi, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II (OIF) and once to Southeast Asia on the 31st MEU. During the course of his tour with Fox Company 2/5, he served as a rifle platoon commander and boat company executive officer.
From July 2006 to December 2007, Lieutenant Jones attended the Arizona State University through the College Degree Program (CDP), earning a promotion to captain while enrolled as a full-time student. In December of 2007, Captain Jones graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and in January 2008, Captain Jones reported to SOI-W. He served as team officer in charge (OIC) and executive officer for the Mobile Training Company, Advanced Infantry Training Battalion and in December 2009, Captain Jones was selected to attend the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Captain Career Course (MCCC) in Fort Benning, Georgia and graduated in May 2010 with orders to report to 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in Twenty-nine Palms, California.
From May 2010 to December 2012, Captain Jones served as a company commander for the Headquarters and Service Company as well as Company A. He completed two deployments abroad, one in support of the 31st MEU and one to Sangin, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 12.1 and 12.2. Captain Jones was selected for promotion to the rank of major in the winter of 2011.
In January 2013, Major Jones was assigned to Marine Corps Recruiting Station New York as the Commanding Officer. Major Jones completed his tour at Recruiting Station New York January 2016. He attended the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island in 2016 and graduated with a Master of Arts in Military Studies.
Major Jones reported to United States Africa Command in 2017. He served in the J37 as the lead exercise planner for the combatant command’s humanitarian assistance exercise and executive officer for the Director for J3 Operations/Cyber.
In 2019, Major Jones reported to 8th Marines, 2d Marine Division where he was promoted to his current rank. Lieutenant Colonel Jones served as the Executive Officer for the regiment and Chief of Staff for Task Force Southwest’s deployment to Afghanistan. Lieutenant Colonel Jones reported to 5th Marines and served as the Executive Officer from August 2020 to January 2021.
Lieutenant Colonel Jones’ decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, gold star in lieu of second award, the Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device and Gold Star, the Navy-Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Combat Action Ribbon with Gold Star.