Colonel Larry M. Wortzel was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Infantry Officer Candidate School Class 4-73 on 19 July, 1973.  His first duty assignment was executive officer, Infantry Scout Dog and Combat Tracker Detachment, 1^st Battalion, 29^th Infantry, Fort Benning, GA.

His subsequent infantry duty assignments were:  Detachment Commander, Infantry Scout Dog and Combat Tracker Detachment, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry, Fort Benning, GA; Infantry School Demonstration Platoon Leader, 1st Battalion 29th Infantry, Fort Benning, GA; OCS Tactical Officer, Branch Immaterial OCS, The School Brigade, Fort Benning, GA; Support Platoon Leader, 1^st Battalion 9^th Infantry (Manchu), 2^nd Brigade, 2^nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, Korea; and S-4, 1st Battalion 9th Infantry (Manchu), 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, Korea.

COL Wortzel branch transferred to Military Intelligence in 1977 and graduated from the Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course at Fort Huachuca, AZ in March 1978.  His first intelligence assignment was as China and Vietnam Current Intelligence Analyst, Intelligence Center Pacific (IPAC), Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.

Subsequent assignments include the advanced Chinese language course at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA; Advanced Chinese language study at the Chinese Language and Research Centre, National University of Singapore while attached to the Defense Attaché Office, U.S. Embassy, Singapore;  U.S. Army Operations Group, Fort Meade, MD; Counterintelligence Special Agent and staff officer, Counterintelligence and Investigative Programs Directorate, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, the Pentagon; Assistant Army Attaché, Defense Attaché Office, U.S. Embassy, China; Strategist, Strategy Plans and Policy Directorate, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, Department of the Army Staff; Assistant to the Director of the Army Staff, Office of the Chief of Staff of the Army; Military Intelligence and Foreign Area Officer Colonels Assignment Officer, U.S. Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, VA; Army Attaché, Defense Attaché Office, U.S. Embassy, Beijing, China; Director, Strategic Studies Institute and Professor of Asian Studies, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA.

COL Wortzel’s military education includes: Infantry OCS, Infantry Mortar Platoon Officer Course, Military Intelligence Officer Advanced Course, Counterintelligence Officer Course, Naval Investigative Service Foreign Counterintelligence Special Agent Course, Defense Language Institute Chinese Mandarin Course, Defense Attaché Course, Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management Course, Armed Forces Staff College, Army War College, Airborne Course, and Ranger Course.

COL Wortzel’s highest military awards include: Defense Superior Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Republic of Vietnam Service Medal with Bronze service Star, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, Army Staff Identification Badge, Parachutist Badge, Ranger Tab, Office of the Secretary of Defense Staff Identification Badge, People’s Republic of China People’s Liberation Army Commemorative Medal, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Jump Wings.

COL Wortzel earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Political Science from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

After his retirement from the Army at the end of 1999, COL Wortzel was Director of the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, a think tank in Washington, DC. Subsequently he was Vice President for Foreign Policy and Defense Studies at The Heritage Foundation. He retired from The Heritage Foundation in Spring 2006.

COL Wortzel continued his government service as an Executive Schedule appointed Commissioner on the Congressionally-mandated U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.  He served 19 years as a Commissioner between 2001 and 2020 and  was Chairman of the Commission for two years.