Lieutenant Colonel Baxter was born in Toledo, Ohio and raised primarily in Roseville, California and Ellicott City, Maryland graduating from River Hill High School in 2000. He graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps in January of 2006.

Second Lieutenant Baxter completed The Basic School in December of 2006 and was promoted to First Lieutenant in January of 2008 and winged as a Naval Aviator, and selected as a CH-53E pilot in December of 2008.

First Lieutenant Baxter joined HMH-466 in July of 2009 and deployed to Afghanistan in support of OEF 10.1 and was promoted to Captain in March of 2010. Captain Baxter subsequently deployed to OEF 12.1 in 2012 and completed Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) Course 1-13. He again deployed to Afghanistan as the HMH-466 WTI in support of OEF 14.1. While at HMH-466, Captain Baxter served as the Assistant Operations Officer, Squadron WTI, Pilot Training Officer, Flight Line Division Officer, Current Operations Officer, and S-5 Officer.

Captain Baxter reported to resident Expeditionary Warfare School in Quantico, Virginia in 2015, was promoted to Major in March of 2016, and graduated from the course in May of 2016.

Major Baxter reported to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) as a CH-53E Instructor Pilot from 2016-2017, and as the CH-53E Division Head from 2017-2019. While at MAWTS-1, Major Baxter served as the CH-53 Long Range Raid Evolution Coordinator, Assault Support Tactics Three Evolution Coordinator, Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation subject matter expert, Air Assault Operations subject matter expert, CH-53 Battlefield Illumination subject matter expert, and Tactical Scenario Development subject matter expert.

Following his time at MAWTS-1, Major Baxter was assigned to HMH-465 as the Aircraft Maintenance Officer in July 2019 until June 2020, where he assumed the Operations Officer billet and served in that capacity during the 21.1 Unit Deployment Program to Okinawa, Japan. Upon completion of that deployment Major Baxter took orders to MAG-16, serving as the Personnel Support Detachment CO from July 2021 to November 2021. Major Baxter was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in January of 2022 and is most recently served as the MAG-16 Executive Officer from November of 2021 until May of 2023.    

Lieutenant Colonel Baxter is married to Lauren Baxter and they have two daughters and one son (Elle 11, Hannah 7, and Wyatt 6). Lieutenant Colonel Baxter has over 2800 flight hours in his career, 1,150 of which on Night Vision Goggles, and over 650 hours in combat. His awards include the Air Medal with numeral 12, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two gold stars in lieu of third award, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He has held all CH-53E qualifications and designations and has flown over 2,600 flight hours including over 1,100 while utilizing night vision goggles.