During his 39-year military career, Lt. Gen. Edward Hanlon, Jr., USMC (Ret) commanded at the battery, company, battalion, and regimental levels. He also commanded the Marine Corps' premier West Coast training facility at Camp Pendleton, Calif.; served extensively in Europe as the NATO planner and later operations officer for the Fleet Marine Forces Europe in London as well as deputy commander of Striking Forces South in Naples, Italy; was assigned as the chief of staff of Joint Task Force Provide Promise overseeing the U.S. support efforts to U.N. forces in the Balkans; and served in a number of assignments with the Navy, including as fleet Marine officer, Atlantic Fleet, and on the Navy staff as director of Naval Expeditionary Warfare.

Hanlon also served as commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant for Combat Development and was the U.S. Military Representative to the NATO Military Committee. In this post, he represented the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was responsible for U.S. policy within the military committee and ensured the interests of the chairman and the U.S. were properly articulated in that body.

After he retired from the Marine Corps in 2007, he became president of Raytheon International Inc. Europe, based in Brussels and had responsibility for Raytheon's International Business Development for Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. He also concentrated on servicing the requirements of NATO, the European Union, and U.S. European Command and its components. He completed his employment with Raytheon in August 2012 and returned to the U.S.

In addition to serving on MOAA's board of directors, Hanlon serves as a member of the California Governor's Military Advisory Council and is on the board of advisors for the San Diego Military Advisory Council.