Chris Willingham is a retired Master Sergeant who served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps from January 1999 to January 2019. A majority of his career was dedicated to the Military Working Dog (MWD) Program. During his 20 year career, Chris served as a MWD handler, trainer, instructor, supervisor and program manager. Chris deployed to the middle east multiple times and was instrumental in developing or enhancing MWD courses, polices and orders due to his operational and training experience.

   As a MWD subject matter expert, Chris has been active in community outreach to bring awareness to the service and sacrifice of our MWDs and their handlers. Chris has provided numerous print, television and radio interviews about MWDs which include Good Morning America, The Today Show, Fox and Friends, LA Times and the BBC. Additionally, Chris has served as a keynote speaker for various events both nationally and internationally.

    Chris and his MWD, Lucca, were featured in Maria Goodavage’s New York Times bestselling book Top Dog. Chris and Lucca conducted counterinsurgency operations, located numerous improvised explosive devices, and were credited with saving countless lives. Lucca led more than 400 missions during her career, and no one was ever hurt until the day she herself suffered a severe injury on the battlefield. On 1 January 2021, Chris assumed the role President of the United States War Dog Association which supports military working dogs and promotes the long history of their invaluable service.