Maj. Gen. Anthony L. Jackson Retires, Hands Over Command

After 36 years of service, Maj. Gen. Anthony L. Jackson retired from the Marine Corps and handed his command of Marine Corps Installations West to Brig. Gen. Vincent A. Coglianese at a Camp Pendleton ceremony Friday.

Coglianese came to this command after serving as the deputy director for Operations Joint Staff at the Pentagon.

Jackson was one of the highest-ranking African-Americans in the Marine Corps, according to a biography on the website for San Jose State University, where he played football and served as team co-captain.

A child of an Army master sergeant, Jackson lived on Army posts throughout the world. He went to officer candidate school in 1975. His first assignment was Camp Pendleton.

Countless people influenced the retiring general over the past four decades, Jackson said. Dozens of them attended Friday's ceremony, from a noncommissioned officer who mentored him to officers with whom he grew into the general ranks.

“These are the people who lifted me up and made me what I am,” he said.

Lt. Gen. Richard Mills, who serves in the Pentagon as the deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, remembered meeting Jackson in the late 1970s.

“I was immediately struck by this officer,” he said. “He was an officer that trained hard.”

Back then, the standard of living for Marines was much lower, he said.

“Tony would take money out of his own pocket and he made the barracks livable,” he said. “He cared about the Marines under his charge … He put all his heart and life into that.”

Jackson received a Distinguished Service Medal and was recognized in a letter by President Barack Obama for his leadership.

The general’s wife, Susan, received recognition for her service to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and for her commitment to her husband.

Jackson joked that he had originally told her the Marine Corps would be a three-year commitment, but had actually meant “three decades.” The couple will continue to live in Fallbrook, CA.

“This has been a very good ride,” he said.

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