Edward O'Connell

Biography

Eddie O'Connell is an active-duty Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel. He is pursuing a PhD at Notre Dame as a Commandant of the Marine Corps PhD Strategist fellow. Research interests include grand strategy, military strategy, military innovation, and weapons proliferation.

Assignments spanning an over 21-year career include: command at the platoon, company, and battalion levels; instructor at the US Naval Academy; lead operational planner at Marine Forces Southern Command; operations and plans officer for hurricane relief operations; and various other staff positions.

He is a 2003 Graduate of the University of Notre Dame and received his commission via the NROTC program, while also earning a monogram in football as a walk-on. He is a graduate of the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (2011), a distinguished graduate of the Marine Expeditionary Warfare School (2011), a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College (2014 - Master of Military Studies), a graduate of the School of Advanced Warfighting (2015 - Master of Operational Studies). He holds an MA in Political Science from Notre Dame (2024). He also holds a master’s degree with distinction from the University of Maryland as part of the Marine Corps’ Leadership, Education and Development program (2008).