South Shore native nominated to 2nd highest post in US military

Flint McColgan, Boston Herald on Jun 21, 2025

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BOSTON — President Donald Trump’s administration nominated a South Shore native for the second-highest post in the military.

Marine Corps Gen. Christopher Mahoney, a Weymouth native, has been nominated to serve as the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. He would replace U.S. Navy Adm. Christopher W. Grady, who has held the post since Dec. 20, 2021. Mahoney currently serves as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, a position he has held since Nov. 3, 2023.

Mahoney, currently headlined a list of “Secretary of Defense General Officer Announcements” on Friday that also included six other Marine general promotions.

The four-star general formerly held command positions at the squadron, group and wing levels, according to his official Department of Defense biography. Before his current position as assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, he served as deputy commandant for Programs and Resources at Marine headquarters, as the deputy commander of Marine forces in the Pacific and of U.S. forces in Japan, as director of Strategy and Plans at headquarters, and as commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

Mahoney completed basic training and the infantry officer’s course at Quantico, Virginia, in 1988, according to the DOD biography. The seasoned pilot has amassed more than 5,000 flight hours in the A-6, F-5, F-18, and the F-35, with training and qualifications earned in Florida and Texas. He deployed to the Indo-Pacific with the Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 224, VMA (AW)-224 — known as “The Bengals” — with additional deployments to Italy and Iraq while based in South Carolina and California.

His formal education includes studies at the Australian Command and Staff College and the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, and he holds master’s degrees from the University of Canberra, Australia, and the Air University.