LtCol Ritchie is a native of Fort Worth, Texas, and was commissioned in March of 2005 upon his completion of Officer Candidate School. He completed The Basic School in October of 2005.
Upon graduation from The Basic School, LtCol Ritchie reported to Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS) 11 for his PMOS tour, during which he served as Officer in Charge of the Repairables Management, Consumables Management and Supply Accounting Divisions and deployed with MALS-16 (FWD) to Al Asad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Following his PMOS tour, LtCol Ritchie transferred to the IRR, completed his Master's Degree in Business Administration and worked for American Airlines in Purchasing, Supply Chain Management and Loyalty Marketing.
In May of 2011, LtCol Ritchie returned to active duty as part of the Active Reserve program. From 2011 to 2012, he served as the Regular and Reserve Promotion Officer on the Promotions Branch staff within Manpower Management Division. In 2012, he was transferred to HQMC DC Aviation (then ASL, now ASB), where he served as Aviation Supply Officer and Logistics Lead for the F/A-18A-D and KC-130J platforms as well as the AIRSpeed Action Officer.
In 2014, LtCol Ritchie was selected by the Director, Reserve Affairs Division to serve as the Officer in Charge of Prior Service Recruiting Station 4, 4th Marine Corps District. His Station was recognized as a CMC Superior Achiever and Prior Service Recruiting Station of the Year in Eastern Recruiting Region during Fiscal Year 2015. LtCol Ritchie was transferred to the active component in 2016 and was subsequently assigned to MALS-11, where he served for 2 years as the Aviation Supply Officer. During his tenure in Miramar, the Marines in his
department worked diligently to provide exceptional supply support to multiple squadron deployments, including TACAIR Integration aboard CVN, the Unit Deployment Program and SPMAGTF-CR-CC.
Following his MALS Department Head tour, in 2018, LtCol Ritchie was assigned to 9th Battalion, US Military Entrance Processing Command, where he served as the Executive Officer for 2 years. In that capacity, he supported the joint recruiting and accessions effort by ensuring all 5 Military Entrance Processing Stations in Texas were fully capable of qualifying, enlisting and shipping applicants in support of the Services' contracting and shipping missions.
In 2020, LtCol Ritchie was transferred to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) in Okinawa, Japan, to serve as the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Aviation Logistics Department (ALD). During his tenure with the MAW, LtCol Ritchie represented ALD during several exercises, wargames and numbered OPLAN reviews, as well as ensured ALD's Aviation Logistics commodity areas were integrated with and fully supportive of MAG/MALS operations.
LtCol Ritchie assumed command of MALS-31 in June 2022.
LtCol Ritchie is a graduate of Expeditionary Warfare School, Command and Staff College and holds both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Business Administration from Texas Christian University.
His personal decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.