Biography
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph “Gooch” Goodrich is a United States Marine Corps KC-130J pilot with 23 years active duty experience. He is currently the Deputy Director of Marine Corps War College (MCWAR), Marine Corps University (MCU), Quantico, VA.
Private Goodrich enlisted in 1999 and graduated from MCRD Parris Island in October 1999 as the Platoon Honor Graduate for Platoon 1082. He was assigned as a Combat Engineer and he attended Basic Combat Engineer School in 2000. Private First Class Goodrich’s first assignment as a combat engineer was with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan. His second assignment was as an Enlisted Assistant Instructor (AI), The Basic School, until 2003. Sergeant Goodrich was selected for Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) in 2003, and he was assigned to Tufts University where he earned his commission in 2006. Second Lieutenant Goodrich completed The Basic School with class 3-06 and he was ordered to Marine Aviation Training Support Group (MATSG) 21, Pensacola, Florida to train as a pilot. First Lieutenant Goodrich earned his wings of gold in 2008.
Captain Goodrich was assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR)-252, MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina where he served as a KC-130J aircraft commander, logistics officer, communications officer, and airframes division officer from 2008 to 2012. Captain Goodrich deployed with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit from 2010-2011 where he flew combat operations in direct support of Operation ODYSSEY DAWN, Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR, Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, and Pakistan Flood Relief.
Captain Goodrich was selected to be an Officer Selection Officer (OSO) for Albany, New York in 2012, and he served as an OSO until 2015. Upon completion of his OSO tour, Captain Goodrich was assigned to VMGR-352, MCAS Miramar, California where he served as a KC-130J aircraft commander, NATOPS officer, logistics officer, and SPMAGTF CR-CC 16.2 Detachment Executive Officer. Major Goodrich flew combat missions in direct support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE during his time with SPMAGTF CR-CC 16.2.
In 2017, Major Goodrich was selected to return to First Marine Corps District, Eastern Recruiting Region, Marine Corps Recruiting Command, Garden City, New York as the Assistant for Officer Procurement (AOP) where he served as the head officer recruiter for 11 states and 17 Officer Selection Stations (OSS). Major Goodrich completed his tour in recruiting in 2019 and was ordered to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252, Cherry Point, North Carolina for a tour as the Executive Officer. Upon completion of his Executive Officer tour, Major Goodrich assumed the Director of Safety and Standardization for Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 14. In 2021, Major Goodrich was selected for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and is currently assigned as the Deputy Director of the Marine Corps War College. Lieutenant Colonel Goodrich is the recipient of the 2022 MCU Rose Award for Teaching Excellence as the military Distance Instructor of the year for Marine Corps University.
Lieutenant Colonel Goodrich completed the Expeditionary Warfare School Distance Program, Command and Staff College Distance Program, Air War College (AWC) Distance Learning program, and he is a graduate of the Joint and Combined Warfighting School (JCWS) JPME II Program. Lieutenant Colonel Goodrich earned his B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University, an M.S. in Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus, an M.Ed. in Instructional Design from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership Studies from Northeastern University. Lieutenant Colonel Goodrich published a handful of articles in the Marine Corps Gazette magazine on topics of leadership and personal development, and he published 2 award-winning children’s books titled Ellie and Her Emotional Dragons and Ellie and Her Emotional Dragons: Ellie’s First Day of School (Wisdom House Books). Lieutenant Colonel Goodrich is married to his middle school sweetheart, and they have three beautiful children ages 10, 7, and 2.