ARLINGTON, VA - Major Neal Duckworth retired from the United States Marine Corps on February 28, after nearly 23 years of active duty. A ceremony was held at Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia, in December, attended by his wife Kate, his mother Doris Duckworth of Macon, sisters Jan Wiley of Paris, and Susan McQuilkin and brother-in-law Jon McQuilkin of Columbia, as well as numerous friends and colleagues.
A 1986 graduate of Macon R-1 High School, Major Duckworth left for basic training in San Diego, Calif. the day following high school graduation.  During his first ten years of service, he was trained in several military skills, including Mainframe Computer Operator, Small Computer Systems Specialist, and Static-line Parachutist. During his enlisted service, he was assigned to units in Quantico, Virginia; Okinawa, Japan; Kansas City; Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.; and the United States Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.  He participated in Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM, as well as military exercises in Norway, Puerto Rico, and Panama.  In 1996, then a Staff Sergeant (E-6), he received a meritorious commission to Second Lieutenant.
As an officer, he was trained in counterintelligence, human intelligence, interrogations, and other intelligence skills, and reassigned back to Okinawa.  He commanded several platoons and deployed to Australia, Singapore, Korea, Brunei, and Indonesia, as well as Bosnia-Herzegovina as a NATO Peacekeeper.  There, he served as Second-in-Command and Commander of a NATO unit, comprised of troops from eight nations, conducting intelligence collection operations near the Serbian and Montenegrin borders.  He met his wife Kate in Okinawa, who was a Marine Corps Logistics Officer.
In 1999, as a First Lieutenant and later Captain, he was transferred to Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he commanded the Counterintelligence / Human Intelligence Company and served as a Battalion Operations Officer. During this assignment he deployed a second time to Bosnia-Herzegovina and in early 2002, deployed as the Task Force Intelligence Officer, 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), to the American Embassy, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Following his return from Afghanistan in 2002, Captain Duckworth was selected for the College Degree Program, and attended The American University in Washington, D.C., receiving a Bachelor of Arts in International Service in 2004.  He was reassigned to Intelligence Department Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps and attended the Naval War College Fleet Seminar Program at night, receiving a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies in 2006.
In 2006, he was transferred back to Camp Lejeune, N.C., for training as a combat advisor and assignment to a Military Transition Team in Iraq.  Major Duckworth was attached to Task Force 1-9 INFANTRY, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3d Infantry Division, U.S. Army, as an advisor to the 3d Battalion and 1st Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, in Ramadi, Al Anbar Province from Dec. 2006 through Sept. 2007, before being reassigned to Multi-National Forces – West in Fallujah as the Counterintelligence and Human Intelligence Officer for Anbar Province. He returned to Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps as the Branch Head, Counterintelligence, Human Intelligence, and Ground Intel Plans and Policy Branch, until his retirement.
Major Duckworth received numerous awards and decorations during his career, including the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing (Valor) Device and Combat Action Ribbon for actions during operations in Ramadi, Iraq.
He is married to the former Kate Dunne of West Roxbury, Mass., who is employed by the U.S. State Department and is a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves. They reside in northern Virginia, where Neal works as a consultant to U.S. government agencies and private corporations.