In 1978, Dunford served in the 1st Marine Division as a platoon and company commander in 3rd Battalion 1st Marines and a company commander in 1st Battalion 9th Marines until 1981. He served as the aide to the commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, Stephen G. Olmstead, for a year, then transferred to the Officer Assignment Branch at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.. He reported to the 2nd Marine Division in June 1985 and commanded L Company of 3rd Battalion 6th Marines. In 1987, he was reassigned to 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company as the Operations, Plans, and Training Officer. From 1988 to 1991, Dunford was assigned as the Marine Officer Instructor at the College of the Holy Cross and Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico. In 1992, he was assigned to HQMC as a member of the Commandant's staff group and subsequently as the Senior Aide to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. In 1995, he joined the 6th Marine Regiment as the executive officer, then went on to command 2nd Battalion 6th Marines from 1996 until 1998. In 1999, Dunford was the Executive Assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Chief, Global and Multilateral Affairs Division until 2001. He next served in the 1st Marine Division where he was assigned to command the 5th Marine Regiment, then as the division's chief of staff and assistant commander. During this time, he served 22 months in Iraq. During his command of RCT-5 in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he earned the nickname "Fighting Joe" under James Mattis. From 2005 to 2007, Dunford returned to Headquarters Marine Corps to serve as the Director of the Operations Division of the Plans, Policies and Operations staff, and eventually became the Vice Director for Operations at the Joint Staff in 2008. In December 2007, Dunford was nominated for promotion to the rank of major general. Two months later, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that President George W. Bush had nominated Dunford for promotion to lieutenant general and appointment as Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations, to succeed Lieutenant General Richard F. Natonski. In April 2008, his appointment to the permanent rank of major general was confirmed by the United States Senate, and he was simultaneously appointed to the grade of lieutenant general for his new assignment. On May 1, 2009, the Pentagon announced that President Barack Obama had appointed Dunford to serve as the commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Central Command. Less than a year into that assignment, Dunford was nominated by Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates to succeed James F. Amos as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, who had been nominated to succeed James Conway as Commandant. President Obama approved his promotion and Dunford assumed the duties and new rank on October 23, 2010. On October 10, 2012, Dunford was nominated by President Obama to lead U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Dunford assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan from General John Allen on February 10, 2013. On June 5, 2014, Dunford was nominated by President Obama to be the 36th Commandant of the Marine Corps. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on July 23, 2014, and he became Commandant on October 17, 2014. On January 23, 2015, Dunford released the 36th Commandant's Planning Guidance.
President Barack Obama nominated Dunford to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on May 5, 2015. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and took over from Army General Martin Dempsey on September 25, 2015, and officially took office on October 1, 2015. He serves with General Paul Selva, USAF, former Commander of U.S. Transportation Command, who is the current Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dunford is the only Marine to have served as Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was nominated for a second term as Chairman by President Donald Trump on May 16, 2017. His renomination was approved by the Senate on September 27, 2017. During an event in December 2018, Joseph Dunford criticized Google for its "inexplicable" continued investing in autocratic, communist-led China while simultaneously not renewing further research and development collaborations with the Pentagon. China has been accused of using censorship technology to restrain freedoms and crackdown on people there, along with a long history of intellectual property and patent theft, which hurts U.S. companies. "I'm not sure that people at Google will enjoy a world order that is informed by the norms and standards of Russia or China," Dunford said. Dunford has urged that Google should work directly with the U.S. government instead of making controversial inroads into China. On September 30, 2019, Dunford retired from his post as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declining interviews and praising his successor, General Mark A. Milley. Dunford officially retired on 1 November 2019.
On April 6, 2016, Dunford was honored with the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors "Honor Guard Gala Military Award", which he received "on Behalf of America's Armed Forces". On September 8, 2016, Dunford received the Heroes Award from nonprofit organization at their annual Roots of Resilience Gala. He accepted it on behalf of the men and women of the Armed Forces. On July 23, 2018, Dunford received the coveted "Dwight D. Eisenhower" award during a ceremony from the VFW. On May 10, 2019, he received the same award from the National Defense Industrial Association. On December 7, 2018, Dunford received the Andrew J. Goodpaster award from the George C. Marshall Foundation.
Civilian career
As of February 10, 2020, Dunford joined the board of directors at Lockheed Martin, serving on the Classified Business and Security Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.
