Ted Studdard
Business to Business Operations Manager | The Home Depot Renovations Services Team
Thirty-six hours after graduating from high school, Ted Studdard was on his way to boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, South Carolina. Little did he know that he was starting a journey that would span four decades, touch five continents, encompass two wars, and eventually end up as a leader at The Home Depot.
The Marine Journey Begins
Ted began his military career in 1984 as a Private. Soon after he was approached to attend the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School. After receiving his BBA in Management from the University of Georgia in 1988, he went to Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant.
During his initial years of service, he led an artillery platoon in combat and was the Commanding Officer of Battery F, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division. During 2000-01, Ted attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College with an academic focus on operational level planning and the theory and nature of war. While there, he also earned a master’s degree in military studies.
After a tour as the Commanding Officer of Recruiting Station Nashville, Ted was selected to be the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan. While in command, he was responsible for leading and training 750 Marines and Sailors who executed missions ranging from combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to post tsunami Humanitarian Operations in Southern Asia. He was also responsible for negotiating the terms and expansion of US Marine Artillery training in Japan with the Government of Japan. During this tour he conducted multiple international media engagements and press conferences representing the US Marine Corps.
Senior Officer Assignments
Returning to the US, Ted attended the National War College in 2006 -07. There, the focus was on national strategy and strategic planning. He was selected as a student delegate to the French Centre des Hates Etudes Militaries Colloquium in Paris, France to discuss the role of culture in conflict. He also had the opportunity to travel to Botswana and Zambia as a member of a Sub-Saharan Africa Strategic Studies Team. If that were not enough, Ted also obtained a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy during the school year.
After the National War College, he was assigned to the Joint Staff in the Pentagon serving in the National Military Command Center. As the Section Head for Current Operations (Afghanistan and Pakistan), he was leading operational planning teams and developing the associated strategic plans, which included collaborating with senior national and international military, civilian, and political leaders about ongoing operations and future plans.
Next, Colonel Studdard was assigned as the Deputy Operations Officer and then became the Operations Officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force (FWD). He was responsible for planning and directing the daily combat operations in Southwest Afghanistan for a 20,000-person international force.
Selected to Command the 8th Marine Corps District, Colonel Studdard returned to the US where he was accountable for over 6,300 Marines and civilians covering a ten-state area.
A New Second Journey
After suffering a heart attack, Ted faced new challenges—retiring and charting a new path. Post retirement from the Marine Corps, he transitioned to a second career with The Home Depot, a company whose values aligned with his own. He has held positions of increasing responsibility in field operations, corporate leadership training, talent acquisition and staffing, and business to business operations. These roles gave “civilian” Ted a unique perspective on optimizing human capital in Corporate America.
Ted’s second role at the Home Depot was teaching leadership at Home Depot University. Who better to teach leadership than a retired Marine Corps Colonel? After that he became the Divisional Staffing Manager, Western Division – Merchandising Execution Team (MET), and he is currently the Business to Business Operations Manager for The Home Depot’s Renovations Services Team.
Ted Studdard has had the tremendous fortune of appearing as a featured guest on national TV, radio, and podcasts, as well as speaking to a variety of audiences about individual and organizational leadership ranging from junior leaders to executives. Also, he has educated business leaders and their HR partners about the value veterans bring to the civilian workforce and how to best incorporate them into Corporate America. Based on his lessons learned and experiences, he also published his first book, Depot to Depot.
Much more than a leadership primer, the book provides a great illustration of the transformation that veterans must make as they begin their personal journey from the service back into civilian life. It also highlights the huge reservoir of human capital that can be leveraged by Corporate America to reinforce our national economy.
