PROFESSOR MICHAEL J. BARKER joined the Naval War College faculty in 1999 as a
Staff College. He was a
CH-46 pilot in the Marine Corps and served operational tours in Hawaii, California, and Okinawa, making several MEU deployments, and served a Department Head tour in
DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM as a member of the
HMM-268 Red Dragons. He was Commanding Officer of the
HMM-262 Flying Tigers and Executive Officer of
Marine Aircraft Group 36 in Okinawa, Japan. Shore assignments included a tour at Naval Air Systems Command in Washington. He is a graduate of Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School and the College of Naval Command & Staff at the Naval War College, earning a Master of Arts degree. Upon retirement from the Marine Corps in 2005, he joined the civilian Joint Maritime Operations (JMO) faculty in the
College of Distance Education.