Upon completion of
The Basic School, Paxton was ordered to Airborne School at
Fort Benning,
Georgia and then assigned as a Rifle Platoon Commander in Bravo Company,
1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 1st Marine Brigade,
Kaneohe, Hawaii. Paxton served twice with the
1st Marine Division (
3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and
1st Marines), once with the
2nd Marine Division (
1st Battalion, 8th Marines), and twice with the
3rd Marine Division (
1st Battalion, 3rd Marines and
2nd Battalion, 4th Marines), commanding at the platoon, company, battalion and regimental levels. He commanded Battalion Landing Team 1/8 from April 1992 to June 1994. They deployed with
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations Capable and Battle Group as Landing Force 6th Fleet (LF6F 2-93) and Joint Adaptive Task Force 93-2 in support of operations in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and later as United Nations Quick Reaction Force (QRF) in
Mogadishu, Somalia. In addition to command, Paxton also served in Operations, Plans and Training (G3/S3) at the battalion, regiment, division (1st and 2nd Marine Divisions) and Marine Expeditionary Force (
II-MEF) levels. Non-Fleet Marine Force tours included Commanding Officer Company B,
Marine Barracks, 8th & I,
Washington, D.C. (1980–81); Commanding Officer Marine Corps Recruiting Station New York, New York (1985–88); Strategic Plans Branch (PLS), Plans, Policies and Operations (PP&O) Department, Headquarters United States Marine Corps; and as Executive Assistant and Marine Corps Aide to the Under Secretary of the Navy (1996–97). Paxton is a Joint Service Officer, having served at United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command in South Korea from 1989 to 1991 as Amphibious Operations Officer and Executive Officer, Crisis Action Team. From June 1997 to June 1998, Paxton was the Assistant Chief of Staff G3 (Operations, Plans and Training). His next assignment, from June 1998 to June 2000, was commanding officer of
1st Marine Regiment. From 2000 to 2001, Paxton had a one-year tour as the United States Marine Corps Fellow (National Security Studies) at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. From July 2001 to August 2003, he was the Director, Programs Division (RP), and Assistant Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Programs and Resources (ADC,P&R),
Headquarters Marine Corps. From 2003 to 2006, Paxton served as Commanding General,
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego and Western Recruiting Region. On 22 May 2007, Paxton relinquished command of the
1st Marine Division to Brigadier General Richard P. Mills. Paxton next served as the Chief of Staff to the commander of Multi-National Force - Iraq. Advanced to lieutenant general in 2008, Paxton served initially as Director, Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5) on the Joint Staff, then was nominated and confirmed to the Operations Directorate (J-3), where he served until appointment as CG, II MEF; and CG, Marine Forces, Africa. Before departing the Pentagon, Paxton also served as interim director, The Joint Staff. Paxton retired in August 2016. ==Awards and decorations==