Gary
Barthel

BIOGRAPHY

Lieutenant Colonel Gary S. Barthel, USMC, Retired, has been practicing Military Law and providing legal advice to servicemembers of all ranks for 35 years. Gary’s twenty-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps is the foundation of his military legal experience.

From 1975 – 1979, Gary served as an enlisted Marine. Gary earned high accreditations as a young Marine. He received multiple meritorious promotions and was ultimately meritoriously promoted to Sergeant just over two years into his four-year enlistment. As a young, enlisted Marine, Gary was selected to serve with the U.S. Department of State at the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Athens, Greece where he was responsible for the security and protection of U.S. Ambassadors, American diplomats, and U.S. classified information. Gary was also assigned to Secret Service details for the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

At the end of his four-year enlistment, Gary was Honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and continued pursuing his college education. Inspired by his enlisted service, Gary obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Area Studies. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree, Gary decided to pursue a legal career. While in law school, terrorists bombed the Marine Barracks in Beruit, Lebanon. That horrific event propelled Gary’s desire to go back into the Marine Corps as a Marine Corps Officer and Judge Advocate upon graduation from law school.

As a “Mustang” Marine officer and judge advocate, Gary provided distinguished legal services on various legal issues to clients of all ranks from the lowest enlisted Marines to Commanding Generals. Gary’s billets included serving as a U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutor, Senior Defense Counsel at Camp Pendleton, and Staff Judge Advocate at Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, and Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar. Gary’s prior enlisted service set him apart from many of his peers. His experience as an enlisted Marine proved invaluable and provided him with credibility and insight many of his peers lacked. His experience as a “Mustang” officer also proved invaluable when advising Commanding Officers and Commanding Generals on the nuances of cases involving enlisted Marines.

During his Marine Corps career as a Marine officer and judge advocate, Gary was selected to attend the Judge Advocate General’s School, U.S. Army, co-located at the University of Virginia, Law School where he obtained a Masters in Law degree in Military Law.

After his Honorable discharge from the Marine Corps in 2003, Gary joined one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in San Diego – Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP. As a partner at Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, Gary focused his practice on defending military clients in courts-martials, military administrative hearings, and in the state and federal criminal courts. In 2013, Gary started his own law firm and founded the Military Law Center.