Fresno State’s two Reserve Officer Training Corps programs have new leaders — Lt. Col. Lorenzo P. Rios commands the Army ROTC Bulldog Battalion and Lt. Col. Matthew R. Buehler the Air Force ROTC Detachment 35.

ROTC unit leaders chair the Departments of Military Science (Army) and Aerospace Studies (Air Force) within the Craig School of Business.

Rios is a naturalized United States citizen born in Tecoman, Colima, Mexico. He was a migrant farmworker who enlisted in the Marine Corps.

He earned a bachelor’s degrees in political science in 1995 and a master’s in Organizational Leadership in 1999 at Gonzaga University where he joined the ROTC program and was a Distinguished Military Graduate. In the Army, Rios served in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2006, Rios earned a master’s degree in political science at Arizona State University. He was an assistant professor at the U.S. Military Academy and at Command and General Staff College. He is completing a doctoral program in International Relations through Arizona State.

Among his medals, Rios has been awarded two bronze stars: one for combat leadership in Iraq and one for leading a special inter-agency coordination cell in Afghanistan.

Rios replaces Lt. Col. Scott T. Figlioli, who has been deployed to Afghanistan.

Buehler, a native of Springfield, Va., was commissioned in December 1992 through the Arizona State AFROTC Detachment 25. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering. He holds an MBA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2004 and a master’s in biology from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2009.

Buehler has taught biology at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He has served as an

Air Force acquisition and test professional, with weapons development and flight test experience. He has also worked at the Pentagon conducting fighter and bomber analysis and risk-assessment.

He has been awarded medals for meritorious service, commendation, achievement, national defense service and the global war on terrorism.

He succeeds Lt. Col. John Lussi, who retired effective Aug. 1 and now teaches in a JROTC high school program in Connecticut.

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