Marine Maj. Gen. William Mullen pictured at a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., in 2018. (Damon Mclean/U.S. Marine Corps)
A retired general who had once led a Marine Corps base in the California desert died of an embolism while he was visiting his old command, authorities said Thursday.
Maj. Gen. William Mullen, 59, died June 29 in the guest quarters at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, where he served as the commanding officer from 2016 to 2017.
The San Bernardino County Coroner wrote in a report that the cause of death was a pulmonary embolism.
Mullen retired from the service in 2020 after a 34-year career capped with training desert warfare tactics to Marines, including those at Twentynine Palms. He previously deployed to Yugoslavia and Iraq in a career dating back to 1986.
Mullen attended Marquette University in Milwaukee and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Marines following graduation. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in political science from Marquette and a second master’s degree in national security and strategic studies at the Naval War College.
In his service, Mullen led a rifle platoon, trained in anti-terrorism tactics, deployed in Operation Desert Shield, commanded a security team at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California, served as president of the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Va., and was the Marine aide to former President Bill Clinton.
Twentynine Palms, which is just less than 1,000 square miles near Joshua Tree National Park in the California desert, is the largest Marine base in the United States.
