Professor Tussing graduated with honors from The Citadel in 1975 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. During a 24 year career in the Marines, Professor Tussing served operationally with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing; the 2nd Marine Division; Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One; Marine Helicopter Squadron One (where he was designated a Presidential Command Pilot); and with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable).

Over the course of his career he participated in multiple humanitarian relief exercises in the Caribbean; Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada; operations as a part of the Multinational Force in Beirut; Operations Provide Promise and Deny Flight in Bosnia; and the final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Somalia.

Following his operational assignments, Tussing was assigned to the Pentagon where he served as Marine Corps Analyst to the Secretary of the Navy in the Office of Program Appraisal. Professor Tussing was subsequently selected for a Brookings Legislative Fellowship, through which he served on the staff of the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Personnel Subcommittee. Following the fellowship, he assumed duties as Deputy Legislative Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Professor Tussing joined the Center for Strategic Leadership of the U.S. Army War College in October of 1999. His focus areas include Homeland Defense, Terrorism, and Congress and Military Policy.

Professor Tussing was a Distinguished Graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College and a fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies (Seminar XXI). He is a graduate (with Highest Distinction) of the United States Naval War College, from which he was awarded a Masters Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies; and the United States Army War College, from which he received a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies.