Lieutenant General Eric Austin was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1991, earned his wings as a naval aviator in 1994, and selected to fly the AV-8B Harrier. Lieutenant General Austin has extensive operational and tactical experience in the AV-8B, to include deployment aboard amphibious shipping as part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit and combat experience from multiple deployments to Kuwait and Iraq. He commanded Marine Attack Squadron 211 from May 2007 to November of 2008 and commanded Marine Aircraft Group 14 from June 2014 to May 2016. He served as the Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command from 2017 to 2018. He most recently served as the Commanding General of 1^st Marine Aircraft Wing in Okinawa, Japan.

His staff assignments include Director, Capabilities Development Directorate, Combat Development and Integration; Deputy Director, Joint Training, Joint Staff J7; Military Secretary to the Commandant of the Marine Corps; Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing; Pacific Command Action Officer, Operations Directorate for the Joint Staff J-39; Executive Officer, Marine Aircraft Group 13; Executive Officer, Marine Attack Squadron 513; Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1; and various squadron billets in operations, aviation maintenance, aviation safety and pilot training.

Lieutenant General Austin graduated from the Naval Academy with a BS in Aeronautical Engineering in 1991, was a distinguished graduate of The Basic School in 1992, and completed flight school in 1994. He was awarded a Masters of National Security Strategy from the National War College in 2010, graduated from the Marine Corps University Senior Planner’s course in 2012, and completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2013.