Major General Karl D. Pierson currently serves as the Director for Reserve Affairs Division, Manpower & Reserve Affairs, Headquarters Marine Corps.
Born in New York and raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey, he graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1992, College of William & Mary MBA in 1999, and the U.S. Army War College in 2017. He reported to 29 Palms, CA as a 2ndLt and regularly participated in exercises and Middle East operations with Combat Service Support Group-1, 7th Marines, and 1st Tank Battalion. He was named Team Captain of the 29 Palms Base Pistol & Rifle Team.
Transitioning to the Reserves in 1997, be served as Logistics Coordinator and Special Projects officer for Reserve Affairs Manpower and Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA and then assumed the role of Alpha Company Commander with 4th Landing Support Battalion at Fort Lewis, WA from 2003 through 2008 where his company received the prestigious Arthur B. Hanson trophy. He mobilized to support 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in Al Anbar Province, Iraq under OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM from 2004-2005 as Commander, LS Company, Combat Service Support Battalion-7, focusing on a wide array of missions from air delivery, helicopter support, convoy, and airfield control groups to Joint Service and Iraqi National Assembly Election detachments. He returned to Iraq for another tour as Deputy G4/ Operations Officer with 1st Marine Logistics Group (FWD) in 2006.
He then served as Asst G-3, 4th MLG in New Orleans, focusing on the Korea Theater of Operations before taking command of 4th Maintenance Battalion and Combat Logistics Battalion-451 in Charlotte, NC in July 2012. During that time, the battalion participated in two Integrated Training Exercises as MAGTF Logistics Command Element and provided a Ready Battalion for contingency deployment for three consecutive years. From 2015 through 2017, he served as Deputy Commander, Combat Logistics Regiment-4, where he filled a variety of roles including JTF-AFRICAN LION 16 Chief of Staff, held in the Kingdom of Morocco.
He promoted to Brigadier General in 2018, assigned as Commanding General of 4th Marine Logistics Group, a 9,000 Marine and Sailor command with 53 sites distributed across the United States. While there, 4th MLG deployed three Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force elements to Sotocano, Honduras and led COVID mitigation operations in New York City under OPERATION GOTHAM-20. From 2021 to 2022, he served as the Deputy Commanding General, U.S. Marine Forces Cyber, maintaining operational command over JOINT TASK FORCE-ARES and JOINT FORCE HEADQUARTERS-CYBER (MARINES). Headquartered in Ft. Meade, Maryland, his teams conducted offensive and defensive cyber operations globally against near-peer nations and terrorist organizations in tandem with partner nations, interagency partner coordination, and interservice team capabilities. He assumed his present role as Director- Reserve Affairs Division under Headquarters Marine Corps, Manpower & Reserve Affairs in 2023.
In his civilian occupation, MajGen Pierson works for Microsoft, is an active mountaineer having climbed several of the world’s highest mountains, is a field team member of Seattle Mountain Rescue, and sits on the Board of Directors for two international NGOs. He is married to his beautiful wife Maggie and is father to three spirited children: Olivia, Mason, and Charlie.