LtCol Hesser enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corps on September 1996. During her enlisted career as a field wireman and radio operator, she deployed with the 13th MEU from 1999-2000 and participated in Operation Determined Response. Following her MEU deployment, LtCol Hesser deployed to Bahrain in support of I MEF (Fwd), Operation Enduring Freedom, in 2002. Upon returning from her second deployment, she was honorably discharged from active duty in late 2003 in order to complete her undergraduate degree where she entered the SMCR while completing her degree program. Her highest enlisted rank was Staff Sergeant.
LtCol Hesser attended OCS in the summer of 2005 and then graduated in 2006 with her undergraduate degree for criminal justice. She attended Thomas M. Cooley Law School from 2006-2009 graduating Cum Laude with her Juris Doctorate. LtCol Hesser attended The Basic School in June 2010 and then Naval Justice School in January 2011. Upon graduating from NJS, she was assigned to Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twenty-nine Palms, Legal Support Team from 2011 – 2015 where she filled the billets as a legal assistance attorney, deployed as an operational law attorney with RCT-7, served as a Company Commander, and successfully completed a year and a half as a trial counsel. She was then selected to attend The Judge Advocate General’s Legal School in Charlottesville, Virginia where she earned her Master’s in Law in the International/Operational Law (4405) specialty. Upon completing school in Virginia, LtCol Hesser was assigned to U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command as the operational law attorney from 2016 – 2019. In 2019, she then reported to the II MEF Office of the Staff Judge Advocate where she immediately deployed to Afghanistan as the SJA for Task Force Southwest. Returning from deployment, she assumed responsibilities as the II MEF Deputy SJA until August 2022. From August 2022 to June 2023, LtCol Hesser was the Deputy Branch Head for personnel law at Judge Advocate Division, Pentagon, Washington, DC.
LtCol Shannon R. Hesser currently serves as the Support Battalion Commander, MCRD PI/ERR, since 14 June 2023.
LtCol Hesser’s personal awards consist of Meritorious Service Medal (x3), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (x2), and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (x4).