Lieutenant General Michael S. Cederholm assumed command of I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) in February 2024. He is the son of Colonel (USMC, Retired) and Mrs. Roger Cederholm. A native of Camp Lejeune, he grew up in New Hartford, Connecticut. After graduating from Wesleyan University, Lieutenant General Cederholm was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in April 1989. He underwent flight training in Pensacola, Florida; Beeville, Texas; and El Toro, California.
Lieutenant General Cederholm’s operational assignments include VMFA(AW)-242, 1st Battalion 1st Marines, VMFA- 112, Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) Instructor, MAG-11, MAG-12, VMFA-212, MAG-31, US Marine Corps Forces Command (MARFORCOM) - Fleet Marine Force Atlantic (FMFLANT), 2D Marine Aircraft Wing, and now I MEF.
His Staff assignments include Manpower Management Officer Assignments (MMOA); Headquarters Marine Corps Aviation - Aviation Weapons Requirements (APW); Military Aide to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, the Honorable Mr. Stackley; Military Secretary (MILSEC) to the 36th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Dunford; and as the Deputy Commandant for Aviation (DCA).
Lieutenant General Cederholm's Joint assignments include Joint Staff J-8 (Force Application Division), and three General Officer billets inside the Joint Staff J-3 (Deputy Director of Operations; Vice Director J-33 Nuclear-Homeland Defense-Current Operations; and Deputy Director Regional Operations (DDRO) J35). He deployed twice in a Joint billet to the Coalition Air Operations Center (CAOC) at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) Saudi Arabia for Joint Task Force SOUTHERN WATCH (JTF-SWA), Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF) and Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) where he served as the Co-lead for Killbox Interdiction and Close Air Support and authored the Urban CAS Concept of Operations (CONOPS) for Coalition Forces in OIF. Additionally, LtGen Cederholm deployed from the Arctic to Eastern Europe as one of the leading elements of NATO's immediate response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine serving as the Commanding General of Task Force
BALTIC WATCHTOWER.
Lieutenant General Cederholm has commanded in all three Marine Expeditionary Forces - VMFA-212 (III MEF), MAG-31 (II MEF), 2D MAW (II MEF), and now I MEF. Additionally, he has flown operational tours in all four Marine Aircraft Wings and flown every operational type-model aircraft in the Marine Corps inventory, to include the F-35B, CH-53K, and VH-92. He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), the National War College, and is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Seminar XXI Fellow. While at the National War College, Lieutenant General Cederholm earned a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy and was the recipient of the 2008 Marine Corps Association Colonel Richard A. Christie Excellence in Writing Award.