Lieutenant General Schmidle is a native of Newtown, Connecticut. He graduated from Drew University with a bachelor of arts in history and earned a master of arts in philosophy from American University. He is a distinguished graduate and prior faculty member of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and is also a distinguished graduate of the Marine Corps War College.
After completing flight training in the F-4 Phantom, Lieutenant General Schmidle served with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 333, followed by assignments as an instructor pilot at VMFAT-101 and as operations officer and air officer for the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. After transitioning from the F-4 Phantom to the F/A-18 Hornet, he deployed to Southwest Asia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 with VMFA-333. Major General Schmidle served as the commanding officer of VMFA-251, deploying to Aviano, Italy, in support of Operations Deny Flight and Provide Promise, and as the commanding officer of VMFA-115, completing a unit deployment to the Western Pacific. He also commanded the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force (Experimental) (SPMAGTF (X), participating in the first two U.S. Marine Corps Advanced Warfighting Experiments, Hunter Warrior, Urban Warrior, and numerous other experiments.
Lieutenant General Schmidle’s staff assignments have included Division Chief of the Dominant Maneuver Joint Warfighting Capability Assessment Division, J-8, Joint Staff, Military Secretary to both the 32nd and 33rd Commandants of the Marine Corps, Director of the Expeditionary Force Development Center, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Integrated Product Team 1 for the Quadrennial Defense Review 2006, and Deputy Director for Resources and Acquisition, J-8, Joint Staff.