LtCol Aixa Dones enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1994. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2001 with a degree in criminal justice and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Marine Corps in 2002. She has experience in signals intelligence and human resources and has been a part of humanitarian efforts in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and combat operations in Iraq. She has been selected to assume command of 4th Recruit Training Battalion, Parris Island, South Carolina in July 2021.