MCB CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Ralph J. Rizzo, Jr. relinquished command of Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune to Col. Gregory B. Pace during a formal ceremony held today at W.P.T. Hill Field on MCB Camp Lejeune. Lt. Gen. Calvert L. Worth, Jr., commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force, served as the reviewing official.
Rizzo, a career Marine with more than 35 years of service, was the 10th commanding general of MCIEAST-MCB Camp Lejeune. During his tenure, he led installation support for II Marine Expeditionary Force and tenant commands across six East Coast bases and stations.
During his command, MCIEAST executed more than $636 million in facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization projects while continuing oversight of approximately $1.6 billion in hurricane recovery construction efforts across eastern North Carolina.
Under Rizzo’s leadership, MCIEAST advanced major modernization, readiness, and quality-of-life initiatives that strengthened the region’s ability to support warfighters, families, and future force requirements.
Validating Rizzo’s focus on readiness, Worth underscored the strategic and global importance of the installation’s mission at the highest levels of leadership.
"We enable the Commandant to say to the Chairman, the SecWar and the President if Marines and Sailors are needed anywhere on the globe, they can and will be delivered because of the work you do at Marine Corps Installations East," he said.
To that end, Rizzo also spearheaded the expansion of ranges and airspace to support emerging capabilities and platforms such as the F-35 Lightning II, Amphibious Combat Vehicle, unmanned aircraft systems, and other Force Design initiatives.
Rizzo championed the installation-wide “Fight the Base” initiative, a comprehensive effort focused on ensuring installations can operate effectively in contested environments. The initiative strengthened force protection, emergency response coordination, and installation resiliency through enhanced partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies.
Rizzo prioritized quality-of-life improvements for Marines and their families, overseeing the execution of the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ barracks modernization initiative, which delivered approximately $17 million in upgrades across 19 barracks facilities. He also championed community and education partnerships throughout the region, helping achieve 100% participation in the Adopt-A-School program across all 37 Onslow County schools — the only county in the nation to reach full adoption levels.
Reflecting on his tenure and the installation's core objective, Gen. Rizzo highlighted the critical role MCIEAST plays in overall force readiness.
"I came in with a very simple mission: that our MEF would be able to project combat power at a time and place of this Nation’s choosing unimpeded, all stop," Rizzo said. "[MCIEAST] just encompassed that in everything they did. You make it very easy to be a warfighting organization here at Camp Lejeune."
Turning his attention to Pace, Rizzo expressed his full confidence in his successor.
"Greg, we’ve been together for two years, and you are absolutely the right man for the job," Rizzo added. "Thank you for your partnership."
As the incoming commander, Pace echoed this commitment to readiness and expressed his enthusiasm for the community he will now lead.
"This is an amazing staff, this is an amazing community," Pace said. "I will hit the ground running, I will be at the sprint, we are ready to move with a sense of purpose."
Pace, a native of Tuskegee, Alabama, had served as deputy commander of MCIEAST-MCB Camp Lejeune since July 2024 before assuming his current duties as commander. Commissioned in 1998, Pace has served in numerous leadership positions throughout the Marine Corps, including assignments with III Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Marine Corps, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow. His operational experience includes deployments supporting the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
To view imagery from today’s ceremony, please visit:
- Photos:
- Video:
- National Anthem – 5:20
- Relinquishment of Command – 23:20
- II MEF Commanding General Remarks – 25:30
- Outgoing MCIEAST Commanding General Remarks – 37:50
- Incoming MCIEAST Commander Remarks – 52:30