MARINE. ACADEMIC. WRITER.

David Palacio graduated from Emory University as a Philosophy/Religion major prior to attending Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in 2004. Upon completion of Officer Candidate School and The Basic School, he was assigned to be an artillery officer and completed two tours to Iraq with 1st Marine Division. He then joined 1st ANGLICO and completed two tours to Afghanistan as a joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) prior to leaving active duty and attending Columbia University Journalism School. After graduating Columbia in 2013, David worked as a public safety reporter on the crime beat at the San Antonio Express-News. While at the Express-News, he was mobilized for a deployment to Afghanistan with his reserve unit and re-entered active duty shortly after. He currently serves with II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and will be deploying to Iraq as part of an advisor team.