Colonel Tyge Rugenstein was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers in May 1983 after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. His first assignment was with the 5^th Engineer Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where he served as a Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and Battalion S-1. In 1987, he was assigned to the 317^th Engineer Battalion, Camp Eschborn, Germany and served as Assistant S-3 and Company Commander.

In 1992, COL Rugenstein graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Masters Degree in Applied Mathematics and was subsequently assigned to the Department of Mathematical Sciences at West Point as an instructor and assistant professor.

From 1996 to 1999, COL Rugenstein served in the 4^th Infantry Division. As Assistant Division Engineer, he participated in Task Force XXI and Division XXI, both Army level experiments testing future force structure, technology, and digitization. He later was assigned as Executive Officer in the 299^th Engineer Battalion – “First on Omaha.”

In 2002, COL Rugenstein graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a Ph.D. in Decision Sciences and Engineering Systems. He then returned to West Point as an Assistant Professor in the Mathematics Department at the United States Military Academy and as the Director of the Mathematical Sciences Center of Excellence, a center focused on coordinating research opportunities between USMA faculty and students and the scientists at the Army Research Laboratory.

On June 2, 2005, COL Rugenstein became the 25^th Commandant of the United States Military Academy Preparatory School at Fort Monmouth, NJ.

COL Rugenstein’s military schooling includes the Engineer Officer Basic and Advanced Courses, Combined Arms and Services Staff School, Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. He is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia.