Brigadier General Lively is a native of Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University and was commissioned in 1996. His career as an infantry officer includes company command in 1st Bn, 5th Marine Regiment and 2d Bn, 2d Marine Regiment; command of Battalion Landing Team 2/6, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit; and command of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. BGen Lively’s other operational assignments include serving as a platoon commander in 1st Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team Company; a deployment as a combat advisor to an Iraqi Army battalion in Ar Ramadi, Iraq; a deployment as the Operations Officer for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. As a general officer he served previously as the Assistant Division Commander of 2d Marine Division.
BGen Lively's staff/supporting establishment tours include twice serving on the faculty at the Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School as both an instructor and as the school director. He also served as a Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives; Infantry Advocate and Ground Combat Element Branch Head at Headquarters Marine Corps, Plans, Policies and Operations (PP&O); and Assistant Chief of Staff, G-9 (Experimentation and Capability Development) at I Marine Expeditionary Force.
BGen Lively is a distinguished graduate of The Basic School, the Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School, the Marine Corps Command and Staff College Distance Education Program, and The National War College. He is a graduate of the French Ecole de Guerre (War College) in Paris, France. He holds master’s degrees in international relations and national security strategy and is a graduate of Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.