Board of Trustees

Mr. Durwood W. (Skip) Ringo, Jr.

Development Committee

"Numerous friends have chosen to join other services – Army’s “Be All You Can Be”, Navy’s “See the World”, Air Force’s “Lower that Handicap” – but I chose to be a Marine. The Marine Corps University Foundation trustee-ship is the venue by which I can continue to contribute to the one service I hold in the highest esteem and it is my privilege to be on the Development Committee, helping in a small way to move the fight forward."

Mr. Ringo was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1967 and was designated a naval aviator in 1969. Shortly thereafter, he served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps Composite Reconnaissance Squadron One, where he flew the EA-6A and RF-4B aircraft. He had two tours as an aide-de-camp, was assigned as the Industrial Engineering Officer at the Depot Maintenance Activity in Barstow, California, and as the Aviation Liaison Officer for both the 4th and 9th Marine Regiments. He also was assigned as Maintenance Officer and jet flight instructor for Training Squadron Twenty-Six in Beeville, Texas.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1982, Mr. Ringo was assigned to the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate, Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland and Head of the Flight Systems Branch. Collaterally, he served as Executive Officer of the Marine Corps Aviation Detachment and was a finalist for NASA’s Shuttle Astronaut Program and is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Mr. Ringo was born in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1967, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. He holds a Master of Engineering degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville and a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the College of Naval Warfare in Newport, Rhode Island. He also completed the Kennedy School of Government’s Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security at Harvard University.

While serving in the Marine Corps, Mr. Ringo was the Marine Corps Liaison Officer to the U.S. Senate. He then became Director of Senate Affairs for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs at the Department of Defense, where he was selected for promotion to Colonel. Upon retirement in 1989, he joined the Professional Staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee where he concentrated primarily on Tactical Aviation matters and was responsible for both development and procurement issues for all tactical aircraft and aviation munitions programs in all branches of the Defense Department. He provided staff support for arms control and treaty issues until 1994 when he joined the General Electric Washington Office, where for fifteen years he managed GE’s military engine programs throughout all agencies of the DoD and various aspects of GE business sector interests to the U.S. Congress. Upon his retirement from GE, Mr. Ringo joined DRS Technologies where he is currently the Senior Vice President for Government Relations.

Mr. Ringo and his wife, Patty, have two sons, one daughter and two grandchildren. They reside in Reston, Virginia.