DeLong’s operational assignments include tours with HMM-262, Quang Tri, Republic of Vietnam; Standardization Instructor, HT-18, Naval Aviation Training Command; maintenance officer, HML-367, where he participated in Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh and Operation Frequent Wind the evacuation of Saigon; operations officer, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH); officer-in-charge, HML 367, Detachment C; executive officer and special projects officer, Marine Air Base Squadron 24; plans and operations officer, Marine Air Group 36; executive officer and commanding officer, Marine Air Group 30; executive officer, MAG-26; commanding officer, HMM-266; executive officer and commanding officer, Marine Aviation Weapons/Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), where he participated in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm; assistant chief of staff, operations, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, where he served as the Joint Force Air Component Commander (JFACC) for Operation Restore Hope in Somalia; deputy commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California; deputy commander and acting commander, United States Marine Corps Forces Atlantic, in Norfolk, Virginia, and his previous duty as commander, 3rd Marine Air Wing, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California. His principal staff assignments include officer-in-charge, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific Command Center; Intelligence Requirements Officer, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; aide-de-camp to the deputy commander, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; arms control/strategic weapons action officer in the Strategic Requirements Branch of the Plans Division, Headquarters Marine Corps; and the director for joint training (J-7) and director of Joint Training Analyses and Simulation Center, U.S. Atlantic Command. DeLong’s professional education includes the Basic School, Naval Flight School, Amphibious Warfare School, Defense Intelligence School, Armed Forces Staff College, Army War College and a Defense Department fellowship at the Brookings Institution. DeLong also held an honorary Doctor of Strategic Intelligence from the Joint Military Intelligence College.