Colonel Christopher R. Buckley
Chief of Staff, Florida Army National Guard
Colonel Christopher Buckley is currently the Chief of Staff for the Florida Army National Guard. Colonel Buckley earned his commission from the Florida OCS program in 2000 after a four-year tour as an Enlisted Soldier on Active Duty. Colonel Buckley attended the Infantry Officer Basic Courser after commissioning and is qualified as a Logistics and Adjutant General's Corps officer. His deployments include mobilization in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) as a Platoon Leader with C Company, 3-124 IN to Baghdad in 2003 and Operation New Dawn (OND) to Kuwait as the 53rd Brigade Support Battalion Operations Officer (S3) in 2010. In he was assigned as the Brigade S1 for the 53rd IBCT in 2011. In 2016 he was selected as the Assistant Chief of Staff at the State Headquarters. Colonel Buckley took command of the 53rd Brigade Support Battalion in 2019 and served as battalion commander until 2022. During that time, he continued in his full-time role as the HRO AGR Manager. In 2022 he was reassigned to Ft. McNair, Washington to attend the National War College. Returning in 2023, he was assigned as the Deputy Director of G1, and in 2024 was selected to serve as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (G1).
His civilian education includes a bachelor’s degree in science from Florida State University, a master’s degree in security management from Bellevue University, and a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College. His military education includes Infantry Officer’s Basic Course, Maneuver Captain’s Career Course, Intermediate Level Education (ILE), the Advanced Operations Course (AOC), Defense Strategy Course, Reserve Components National Security Course, and Senior Service College.