Colonel Bradley Sams

Program Manager- Ground Weapons Systems Marine Corp Systems Command

Colonel Bradley Sams enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1992 as a Combat Engineer and received his commission from the USMC Officer Candidate’s Course in 1998. Upon completion of The Basic School (TBS), he became an Artillery Officer. He is a graduate of The Field Artillery Basic Officer’s Course, Amphibious Warfare School (non-resident), Expeditionary Warfare School (resident), USMC Command and Staff College Distance Education Program, U.S. Army War College Distance Education Program, and National Defense University’s Eisenhower School.

Assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Marines in 1999, Col Sams served as a Forward Observer to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines during their assignment with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit; a Battery Fire Direction Officer, Battery Executive Officer, and Assistant Battalion Operations Officer. While assigned to The Basic School (TBS) in Quantico, VA, Col Sams instructed student officers as a fire support instructor, Staff Platoon Commander, and the TBS Testing and Evaluation Officer. After resident Expeditionary Warfare School, Col Sams received orders to 1st Battalion, 12th Marines as the Headquarters Battery Commanding Officer, and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) as the Bravo Battery Commanding Officer and Fallujah Regional Detention Facility Officer in Charge (OIC). Upon return from Iraq, Col Sams assumed the duty of Assistant Battalion Liaison Officer before being assigned as the Al Anbar Detention Evaluation and Assessment Program OIC during the battalion’s second OIF deployment. After graduation from Naval Postgraduate School, Col Sams joined Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) for duty as a Software Systems Analyst, Project Officer, and Integrated Product Team Lead before orders as a Professor of Systems Acquisition Management to Defense Acquisition University (DAU). After DAU, Col Sams returned to MCSC as the Program Manager for Fires. Col Sams graduated from the U.S. Army War College Distance Education Program in 2019, was additionally selected for resident Top Level School, and graduated the Eisenhower School in 2020. Col Sams’ next assignment was the Chief of Staff for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (DASN) for Air/Ground Programs. In July 2022, Col Sams transferred back to MCSC and PEO Land Systems as the Deputy Program Manager for PM Ground Based Air Defense until November 2023 when he served briefly as the Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office Director. Since March 2024, Colonel Sams serves as the Program Manager Ground Weapons Systems at MCSC.

Colonel Sams holds an M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University’s Eisenhower School, a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, a M.S. in Information Technology Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, a M.S. in Education from Old Dominion University, and a B.A. in History from Western Michigan University. His personal awards include theDefense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with one gold star, the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal with two gold stars, and the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal