Lieutenant Colonel Marco A. Arriaga is a native of Pueblo, Colorado and earned his commission as a Second Lieutenant via the Officer Candidate Course program in 2009. Upon completion of The Basic School and Air Defense Control Officer Course, Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga was assigned to the Tactical Air Operations Center Detachment, Marine Air Control Squadron One (MACS-1) (Reinforced) aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. While assigned to MACS-1, he served as a Senior Air Director, Operations Platoon Commander, and was briefly assigned to Marine Fighter Training Squadron 401 as an Air Intercept Controller. This included two deployments to Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Province, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and a third deployment to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Combined Defense of the Arabian Gulf.
Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga’s next assignment was to Marine Air Command and Control Squadron – Experimental where he served as the Tactical Air Operations Center Division Head from July 2013 to June 2015. During this period, he participated in the operational and development testing, and operational assessments of the Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) and Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S).
Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga was then reassigned to MACS-1 (Reinforced), Early Warning and Control Detachment, as Company Commander from June 2015 to June 2017. There he was responsible for supporting multiple Service and MEF-level exercises, and numerous joint and coalition exercises.
Next, Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga was selected for Marine Officer Instructor (MOI) duty and reported to the University of New Mexico Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit from June 2017 to July 2020. In addition to MOI duties he served as the unit’s Operations Officer, an Assistant Professor of Naval Sciences, and augmented Officer Candidate’s School as Platoon Commander, Third Platoon, Company L.
From July 2021 to June 2024, he was assigned to MACG-18, 1st MAW, at MCAS Futenma in Okinawa, Japan. While assigned to MACG-18, Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga served with Headquarters and Tactical Air Command Center Company, and as the Operations Officer for MACS-4 and MACG-18, respectively.
In June 2024, Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga checked into Marine Air Control Group (MACG) 38, 3d Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), aboard Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, California where he served as the Operations Officer until June 2025.
Lieutenant Colonel Arriaga holds a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College, a Master of Business Administration from the University of New Mexico, and a Master of Operational Studies from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC). He completed the USMC Expeditionary Warfare School Blended Seminar Program, was an in residence distinguished graduate of the U.S Army CGSC, and completed the Red Team Member Course at the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies. He is a graduate of the MAWTS-1 Marine Division Tactics Course, Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course, and the Joint Interface Control Officer Course.
His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.