Sergeant Major Brian A. Woodruff
Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major Brian Woodruff assumed his current post as the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Cyber Operations Group on February 15, 2024. A native of Houston, Texas, he enlisted in the Marine Corps on November 16, 2000. After completing recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD) San Diego, California in October 2001, he proceeded to Marine Combat Training at the School of Infantry-West, Camp Pendleton, California. His subsequent assignment was as a Field Wireman, aligning with his military occupational specialty, following completion of the requisite course criteria at Company B, Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School (MCCES), Twenty-Nine Palms, California.
In February 2002, Sergeant Major Woodruff reported to Support Company, 7th Communication Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) in Okinawa, Japan. There, he actively participated in numerous theater area operations throughout Southeast Asia as a Field Wireman and Wire Supervisor with both Support Company Wire and Alpha Company, Rapid Response Communication Contingency Platoons. In June of 2003, he reported to Communication Platoon, Headquarters Company, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, California.
During his tenure with 1st Marines, Sergeant Major Woodruff deployed with Regimental Combat Team (RCT) 1 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from February 2004 to March 2005. His service during this period included participation in two major combat operations: VIGILANT RESOLVE and PHANTOM FURY (Al Fajr) where he served numerous billets as a heavy crew-served machine gunner for RCT-1 Security Platoon “Chesty”, RCT-1 Headquarters Police Sergeant, tactical switching operator, and Sergeant of the Guard for Camp Inchon, Camp Fallujah, Iraq.
In October of 2006, Sergeant Major Woodruff attended Drill Instructor School at MCRD San Diego, California and was later assigned to Company C, 1st Recruit Training Battalion. From 2006 to 2009, he served as a Drill Instructor and Senior Drill Instructor with Charlie Company, earned a meritorious promotion to the rank of Staff Sergeant in July of 2008, and successfully completed his tour at MCRD-SD as the primary first aid academics instructor with the Academics Instruction Platoon, Support Battalion, MCRD-SD. Following completion of his special duty assignment, he attended Wire Chief’s Course again at Bravo Company, MCCES, Twenty-Nine Palms, California, followed by his next assignment as the Platoon Sergeant for Wire Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Communication Battalion in April 2009.
During his time with 9th Communication Battalion, Sergeant Major Woodruff completed two deployments to Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in support of combat operations throughout Regional Command - Southwest, NATO Integrated Security Assistance Force, as an Inside Plant Installations Chief. He received a combat meritorious promotion to Gunnery Sergeant in April of 2012 and deployed again as the Wire Platoon SNCOIC, in which he oversaw the network commercialization and expansion of both Camp(s) Leatherneck and Bastion.
In June of 2013, he received orders to Inspector-Instructor staff, 6th Communication Battalion, Brooklyn, New York, reporting in as the Support Company Switching Platoon SNCOIC. In September of 2014, Sergeant Major Woodruff received a reassignment to the Battalion Operations Section, where he assumed the role of Battalion Operations Chief. He held this position until his selection to First Sergeant in December of 2015.
In June of 2016, Sergeant Major Woodruff reported to Headquarters Battalion, 3d Marine Division, III MEF. During this tour, he served as the Company First Sergeant for all three companies within Headquarters Battalion: Truck Company, Communications Company, and Headquarters & Service Company. In February 2019, he executed a permanent change of assignment to further serve with the Force Reconnaissance Company, III MEF as their Company First Sergeant.
Sergeant Major Woodruff was selected to his current rank in November of 2020 and was then reassigned within the 3d Marine Division to serve as the Battalion Sergeant Major for 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment in December of 2020. In June of 2022, remaining within the field artillery community, Sergeant Major Woodruff reported to 3d Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment to serve as the Inspector-Instructor Command Senior Enlisted Leader.
Sergeant Major Woodruff's personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal; Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two gold stars, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with three gold stars, and the Combat Action Ribbon.